Bittersweet
by jcd117
Summary: Imagine being pregnant. The glow and the good feeling all of the time. Now imagine being pregnant in the zombie appocalypse. That's Rosalyn's life but worse. Her choices in the past have been horrible but that needs to change now that she is going to be having her own child. Her main problem is she's falling in love. Only the man isn't the baby's father. It's the father's brother.
1. Chapter 1

Some may say this new life is horrible. I, on the other hand, don't mind it as much. The men are limited but there's less people. I'm not a very big people person and I don't count the dead things that are walking around, trying to eat us, people.

Everyday is a new adventure. We struggle for survival and that excites me. You never know what is going to happen tomorrow, tonight, or even the next hour. We could die at any moment. It forces everyone to finally start living a life. Sure, there are moments that make us think that it isn't worth trying but it only lasts a moment.

Unlike most of the people in our small group, I was living before all of this. I've had a few boyfriends here and there. Hell, vodka was my best friend. Went out ever weekend with a couple girls. Most nights I can hardly remember.

I woke up mostly every Sunday with some guy leaving my room. I didn't even know his name. This was the life for me. There was no commitment, no worries.

I know that life was gone but I'm still living. I have my own little tent with all of my stuff. I was able to sneak a bunch of alcohol in here in case something like this did happen. You know? Not being rescued. It doesn't appear that they are going to be making any more anytime soon. No one knows about it. It's all mine.

I joined a little camp with about twenty or thirty people. We are stationed outside of Atlanta. We can see the city. It would be a perfect view, except everytime we looked at it, it brought us back to our old lives. Things were much simpler then.

Most of the men in the camp were either taken or they weren't at all interested. That was strange to me. When I used to go out, men were all over me. My options were always very wide ranged. Now, they are very limited. Really, there was only one guy who was willing. He was a racist, sexist, disgusting redneck. No one liked him. I don't think even his brother liked him. His name was Merle Dixon.

He tried his luck on every woman in this place. Not one wanted to be within twenty feet of him. It was odd because he saved me for last.

One night, I was hanging in my tent, alone. I pulled out a bottle of Grey Goose Vodka and a glass, when Merle walked in. "Hey, whatchya got there baby girl?"

"What do you want Merle?" I took a sip. It had been too long since I had this and the taste was sensational.

"I would love to have some of that if you don't mind." He looked at me with a smile on his face.

I sighed. He wasn't going to leave unless I gave him some. "Alright. Have a seat." He sat on a chair that I had placed in the corner and I poured a glass for him. That was the last thing I remembered from that night.

The next morning, I woke up in my bed. The bottle of Grey Goose was on the floor, empty along with another one just like it. I was nude as was Merle, who was lying on the ground. He must have tried to escape last night but passed out.

It had been a long time since there was a guy who was still in my room when I woke up. I got up and looked around for clothes. Once I was at least half dressed, I picked up Merle's clothes, kicked him. "Get up." I threw his clothes to him.

"What the hell?" He rubbed his eyes and sat up.

"Get dressed and get out." The last thing I really needed right now was everyone knowing I slept with Merle. I felt a slight sense of shame but that was normal. I really just wanted him out.

He jumped to his feet. "Whoa girl. You were good," he said as he dressed himself.

"Thanks." I didn't look at him. I just tried to make my bed as he fumbled around with his clothing.

"We should do this some other time sweety." I opened the door to my tent and showed him out.

"Sure, whatever." I really stooped to a new low this time. I have been with some losers in my day but damn was I desperate. He would really want to do this again but I wasn't sure that I wanted to. This feeling was also normal. By tomorrow, I'll be ready for him again. I would even be ready to do it sober this time too.

I looked around. My tent was a mess. I spent half of the morning fixing it and putting everything back in its place. That is when I found Merle's hunting knife lying beside my nightstand. I hate when people leave their things in my tent. I made sure I was fully dressed and at least descent looking. I tucked the knife safetly into my shorts and went outside to find Merle so I can return his item to him.

I searched everywhere but I couldn't find him. I heard Lori call for me. "Rosalyn." I turned and waved at her. She waved at me to come and join her with the laundry.

I was always willing to help. I grabbed some clothes and began to hang them up with her. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know where Merle is would ya?" She ussually knows everything.

"Um, he went with a few others to make a run into the city. He probably thought he would get something out of it, if you ask me. That man doesn't do a thing for anybody. Why do you ask?"

"No reason." She probably knew but I really didn't want to gloat that I had sex with Merle Dixon. He would probably do that when he got back.

Anyway, I didn't see it at the time but this was the day where my life would change forever. Where everything wasn't so simple anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

After finishing the laundry, I walked back to my tent. I decided to wait in there. I tosed the knife on my bed and sat on my chair. I starred off into space for a while. Memories of the past began to flood the base of my mind. I couldn't sit here doing nothing anymore.

There wasn't much to do around here, so for the first time in years, I picked up a book. I'm not much of a reader. It was _And Then There Were None._ I honestly hated this book but there wasn't much of a selection. This would keep me occupied for a while.

I sat reading for quiet some time, when I heard something happening outside. I marked my place with the only photo I had of my mother and father and went to investigate. Shane was sitting next to the radio, talking into it. There was a man on the other end but he couldnt hear Shane. There was something wrong with the connection. It was disappointing to know he didn't know about us but at least we know there are others out there that are like us.

Since I was already outside, I decided to tan. Even though the sun has been out for over a week, I haven't found time to tan. My skin was beginning to become white as a ghost. Maybe a little tan would attract a different man besides Merle.

I walked into my tent, changed my top into a string bikini that I was smart enough to pack, and tied my light brown hair into a bun. Even though it has been a while since I showered, my hair remained silky smooth. This required two ponytail holders to keep my hair up. I put on the shortest jean shorts that I could find and walked outside.

There were quiet a few eyes on me but I didn't mind one bit. I loved the attention. To show off even more, I walked with a little pep in my step. This was one of the sexiest things I had done in a while. I had been out of practice but it came naturually to me.

My gaze turned to Shane. He was a muscular man with black hair. He was starring as I walked by. I waved at him before I climbed onto the RV. I wasn't positive if he was starring because he liked what he had seen or if he was digusted that I would do this. I guess it wasn't the best time in the world to be tanning and be sexy but it doesn't look as if a better time was coming along any time soon0.

I climbed the ladder to the top of the RV. I walked over to Dale, who wasn't as shocked as the others. That really didn't surprise me. He was an older gentleman who wasn't looking for love. He was just trying to live another day. That's why he fit in so well here. "Do you mind if I tan here for a while? It's the perfect day for it." I batted my eyes, cutely. I knew that wasn't needed. I was just showing off now.

"No problem." He smiled as he gestured me to lie next to his chair. He leaned forward and whispered in my ear. "Um, can I ask you a favor though?"

"Sure." My voice cracked slightly. I wasn't the expert at doing favors.

"I know girls now-a-days take their top off to tan. Do you mind keeping your's on?" His face was slightly nervous. He seemed a tad scared that I would object his proposition.

"Dale, don't worry. I was planning on keeping it on anyway. There's children around and they dont need to see what my mother gave me." I smiled and winked. There was a slight skip in my walk as I approuched the spot next to Dale's chair.

I layed on my stomach and began to relax. This used to be one of my favourite things to do. The heat from the sun's rays melted all of the worries away. For once, I wasn't afraid of being eaten or dying. I was just tanning. My breathing had slowed.

My skin was just beginning to cook when there was another voice that sounded on the radio. It was T-Dog's. He told Shane of how they were stuck in a building. I sat up as my body tensed. This wasn't a very good sign. Before Shane had a chance to speak, the signal was gone.

My heart skipped a beat or two as my brain began to think. There was about a quater of our group on this run. If they don't make it back, then we are even lower on numbers. We might not be able to last too long without them.

Amy, a young blonde, begged and pleaded that we go and bring them back. Her sister, Andrea, was one of the people to go. Shane wouldn't allow it. He was sort of our leader here. Whatever he said, goes.

We had a rule here at our camp. We do not go and save the people who went runs. It was too risky and it would make our camp weaker then it already was. If they were in trouble, they needed to try and wiggle themselves out of it.

I stood up and climbed down from the RV. If something seriously went down, I didn't want to hear it. I may seem like it, but I'm not the type who was interested in drama. If Amy hit Shane, I wouldn't care. The only time that it would matter is if it affected me in any way. I only look out for myself. In this world, I couldn't risk caring about someone. I could get them or me killed.

That was mainly the reason I decided not to get too close to anyone here. If they died, I would be sad, but not devestated. I protect myself and not anyone else.


	3. Chapter 3

I was hanging out in my tent, trying to take in the fact that they were all traped. There was nothing that any of us could do. I felt helpless. Amy was right, Andrea volunteered to go. No one else would. What a brave soul. I was going to miss her.

I layed on my bed and began to think of all of the extra work that was going to be needed to be done. Since we were now reduced, everyone had a much larger load. I was never used to working real hard. In fact, I never worked at all. I ussually recieved everything I wanted on a silver platter, no questions asked. You may say I was spoiled but I like to think of it as well taken care of.

My eyes were becoming heavier and heavier. Just the thought of all of the work made me tired. I was half asleep, when I heard a loud sound. It appeared to be a car sirren, one of those annoying ones that would go off if you were too close to the car. This one was different though. It was moving in our general direction.

I grabbed a shirt that was lying on the ground and put it over my bikini top. I walked outside and joined everyone towards the edge of the camp. To all of our amazement, there was bright red car that sped our way. Its sirren was earsplitting as the noise bounced off the sides of the hills.

It parked and Glenn jumped out. The noise didn't stop. It didn't seem like he cared. He was happy that he was able to drive such an expensive car at least once in his life.

Shane ran over, yelling at Glenn to shut it off. The only problem was, Glenn didn't know how. Shane made Glenn pop the car's hood and he diconnected the car's battery. This finally silenced the car.

Amy wasn't concerned about the car though. Her only priority was Andrea. Glenn assuered her that her and along with everyone was fine. The only exception was Merle. Great, now we have to deal with his equally bitter brother, Daryl. This is going to be a great day.

While my mind ran else where, Shane was yelling at Glenn about the noise. Glenn was apoligetic but still excited about his new ride. I could see why. It was a hot rod. Something, back when things were normal, that would attract a woman. A woman like myself.

Suddenly, a packaging truck pulled up. Once it was parked, Andrea hopped out of the back and came running to her sister. They both teared up with delight. It was a happy moment for the two of them. Everyone began to file out of the back of the truck. Merle was clearly not with them.

Everyone who was with our group was out of the truck. The only one who remained was the driver. Shane questioned their return. Glenn told him a new guy helped them out. Finally, I thought to myself. Some new meat around here will do some good.

Morales called for him. The man stepped out of the drivers side of the truck. He was a taller man with brown hair. He was dressed in a policeman's uniform. He walked about five or six feet, then stopped and looked up. I stared at his face even though he didn't notice me. Surprise was plastered every inch of his face. He had seen something that began to make him tear up.

I lost focus on his eyes due to Carl's screams. "Dad!"

"Carl!" the man screamed back. I looked over to Lori. She was as surprised as the man was. The last time Lori had spoken of her husband, she believed him to be dead. I believe she told me his name was Rick.

Rick, Lori, and Carl clung to each other tightly. It was a family reunion. I couldn't help but think of my family. My mother and father loved me deeply but I never really showed them my love back. They cared to my every need and I just kept wanting more. It seemed fine at the time. Looking back now, I wish I had one last chance to tell them that I loved them.

During their long hug, Rick looked over to Shane. I turned to him as well. Shane was astounded. He must have known Rick. Shane did mention that he was a cop. Maybe they worked together. The only thing I knew we Lori and Shane both believed Rick to be dead so they moved on. They never mentioned it but everyone knew. This was going to make life at the camp more complicated.

That night, we all sat around a camp fire. Carl sat on his father's legs while Lori leaned on Rick. Dale sat next to Lori with Andrea between him and Amy. Shane sat on the opposite side of the fire, across from Rick and Lori. I placed myself inbetween Glenn and T-Dog. Rick told us his story. He told us that he was in a coma and woke up to this. Some way to wake up. Rick also thanked Shane, or tried to, for saving his family. Lori held her husband tight.

Carol and her family had their own seperate fire. They never joined in with the rest of the group. Ed, Carol's husband, wouldn't allow her. That man controlled her every move.

It was a colder night. This wasn't unussual. Ed dropped another peice of wood in their fire. This was against our rules and he knew that. No matter how cold it was, we kept our flames low. This would make sure there was no attention drawn to us. Shane walked over to tell them exactly that. After trying to argue with Shane, Ed made Carol pull out the log that he had thrown in. Shane thanked Carol and wished her and her daughter Sophia, a good night. Shane then returned to his original place around the fire.

Dale brought up the subject everyone was trying to avoid. He wanted to know what were going to do about Daryl Dixon. Later, after the rest of the groups arrival, Glenn told us that they had to leave Merle cuffed to a roof. I wasn't Merle's biggest fan but even I knew that was harsh. Daryl wasn't going to take this lightly.

"I'll tell him. I dropped the key," T-Dog stated.

"I cuffed him, that makes him mine." Rick had addmitted eariler that he was the reason that Merle was cuffed in the first place. Who could blame him? Merle was going to kill T-Dog. There wasn't anything that he could have done.

Glenn chimmed in. "I don't mean to bring race into this but it might sound better coming from a white guy." Glenn had a point. Like Merle, Daryl had issues with people of different ethnic backgrounds. He didn't show it as much as Merle but he did. That was one of the main reasons the Dixon brothers repulsed me.

T-Dog wanted to take the blame. He believed that it was his fault that they had to leave Merle. Just because he dropped the key, doesn't make it his fault. Merle screwed himself over.

Amy suggested lying. Daryl is an asshole but hes not totally stupid. He knows his brother better then anyone else in this camp. He would figure out that Merle was left behind, not bitten or dead.

Andrea said exactly what I was thinking. She told everyone that he was going to get them all killed. She believed Rick did the right thing. Dale wasn't quite convinced that those words would work with Daryl. Daryl is not going to be very rational about this and we all knew it.

T-Dog was still upset with himself. "I was scared and I ran."

"We were all scared, we all ran. What's your point?" Andrea questioned.

"My point is I stopped long enough to chain that door." T-Dog explained that it wasn't possible for any walkers to break through. Merle was still up there. My stomach began to twist. Even Merle didn't deserve to spend a night by himself up there. He was defenseless. I still did not blame T-Dof. This was Merle's mistake even though he was paying for it harshly.

That night, I layed in bed thinking about Merle and Daryl. For the first time in my life, I felt sympathy for both men. Merle was locked on a roof all by himself and Daryl doesn't know. Daryl was on a hunting trip and he would be back in the morning. I stared at Merle's knife on my nightstand. I wished I caught up to him before he left. He could have at least used this to defend himself. If he was dead, I took part of the blame.


	4. Chapter 4

I woke up early the next morning. I was the first outside to great the new day. I walked over to the RV and watched the sun rise. The beautiful oranges and yellows were stretched far and wide across the Atlanta sky. I stood and watched for awhile.

"Enjoying the morning?"

"Jesus Christ, Dale. You scared me." Dale stared straight ahead.

"You know you shouldn't be out here alone and unarmed." He was speaking to me like my father would have. If I think about it, he was a father figure to me.

"Yes, I know. I just didn't want to stay in that tent anymore. It gets pretty cramped after awhile." I was looking down at my feet when Dale put his hand on my back.

"Everything alright?" There was no sense lying to Dale. He knows everything.

"I don't know, really. I've been feeling... off I guess." I turned my gaze over to Dale's eyes. By the way he looked back at me, he genuanlly was concerned for my well being. "Maybe it's guilt or shame. I don't know, somethings just not right."

"We all know about what happened with Merle." Dale finally announced.

I let out a small chuckle. It wasn't a happy one. "Figures. That was the biggest mistake of my life." I turned my eyes back to the ground. "The strange thing is, I've been with worse and felt better about it. I just feel sick to my stomach about it."

"Hey look at me. It will all work out. I promise." His sincere voice was slightly reassuring but I still didn't feel okay.

"I guess it would have been easier if I could talk to Merle, you know? I admitted.

"Rosalyn, I'm not sure that would have worked. Merle isn't the most reasonable person out there."

He was right. "Yeah that's true. Maybe it's better that he's not here. It's kind of easier not seeing him." A smile spread across my face. I hugged Dale to show my appreciattion. "Thanks Dale."

"No problem." I released him. "Now, go get dressed and we can keep watch while we wait for everyone to wake up." I nodded.

I walked back to my tent and pulled out my suit case with some of my clothes. I sifted through them and found my favorite pair of shorts. I matched the black pair with a bright pink tank top and slid on my pink flip flops. I ran out and back to the Rv.

While climbing the ladder, I noticed Shane walking out of his tent. He gave me a look and continued to walk. That man must have a stick up his ass or something. He never liked me too much but today I decided not to care. Dale had put me in a pretty descent mood and I wasn't going to let that ruin it.

I didn't have much experience with a gun, so I just sat and watched as the people of our little group woke up and started the day. The sun was becoming higher and higher. That meant it was becoming hotter. Maybe I would take a dip in the quarry later.

Dale left the top of the RV to help the men strip Glenn's car for parts. I was left in charge of watch. I looked over to Glenn who was clearly upset. This was his new baby and they were taking every part that would disconnect. I felt sorry for Glenn. He really loved that car.

This day was going smoothly. Amy, Andrea, and Lori were hanging up clothing when Rick walked over to them. He woke up late and observed how we live around here.

Seconds later, Shane pulled up in the jeep. He brought fresh water and reminded us to boil it before we used it. Dale called me down to come and get some for myself. I needed it. I was really thirsty.

When I reached the last step of the ladder, my foot missed it. I fell with a thud. "Ow, shit." I had landed on my back.

Glenn and Andrea ran over to my aid. "You alright?" Glenn asked. He reached his arm out to help me up. I grabbed it and pulled myself up.

Andrea turnd me around. "You shirt is all ripped and your back is scrapped pretty bad. C'mon, lets get you patched up." I followed her as she led me to the inside of the RV. I haven't spent much time in there. It was a slightly older model. Shades of brown surrounded the interior.

Andrea told me sit on the seat around the table. She pulled out a first aid kit and laid the things the she would need on the table. She told me to take off my shirt. Good thing I had a bra on for once. "Don't worry, I'll have Amy go get you a new one from your tent." I nodded and she walked over to the door and called for Amy to get me a new shirt from my tent.

I pulled my hair back into a bun so it would be easier for her to work. "Alright," she said. "This might burn a little." Suddenly, I felt a burning sensation in my cut. I took a small leap forward making a snake like noise from my teeth. "Sorry."

"It's fine." She was only trying to do the best she could with what she had. In no time, she was finished. She handed my new shirt that Amy had brought. I thanked her and she helped me up.

We were just getting ready to leave the RV when we heard the children's screams. We shot out of the RV as everyone else ran towards the children. Lori and Carol met Sophia and Carl as Rick, Shane, and Glenn went to find the walker they were screaming about.

I stopped about half way through the camp. The men could handle it. The only problem was the screams. They could have attracted more of them our way. It was a better idea to stay behind and let the men take care of it.

Everyone began to follow slowly, leaving me behind at the camp, alone. I wasn't the bravest person around so I decided to follow as well. Once I caught up to the rest of the group, I stayed behind Amy and Andrea.

The walker turned around and went towards Rick. Rick struck it and it fell over. The men began to take turns hitting the walker. They were hitting it like it was a game wack-a-mole. Everytime it got up, the men would knock it down. It wouldn't die. Dale finally saw a chance and he took it. He cut off the head.

The head rolled away from the body. The body lied there, lifeless. Dale expressed his concern. He said that this was the first one we had up here. He was right. We never had this problem before. They must have been running out of food in the city.

Everyone's attention was suddenly drawn away from the walker on the ground to a rustle in the bushes. The men stood ready for anything. The anticipation was cut short when Daryl walked out. He stopped when he noticed all of the weapons were pointed his way.

Once he saw the walker on the ground had been eating a deer that he had killed, he was pissed. "Son of a bitch. That's my deer." He yelled. "Look at it all gnawed on by this," his foot struck the walker's body as he continued to speak, "filthy, disease barin', motherless, poxy bastard."

Dale tried to calm Daryl down. "That's not helping."

"What do you know about it old man." Daryl walked over to Dale. "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'On Golden Pond'?"

Daryl took a second to catch his breath. He walked back over to the deer. "I've been tracking this deer for miles." He took the three arrows that he had shot the deer with. "Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think cut around this chewed up part right here?" He looked over to the men, while pointing down at his kill.

"I would not risk that." Shane admitted to Daryl.

"That's a damn shame." I felt sorry for Daryl. He did put in a lot of hard work to catch that deer. He perked right up when he told us about the squirrel he had killed.

Suddenly the mouth of the walker opened up. It began to move around. I backed up in surprise. Daryl looked down. "Come on people. What the hell?" He pointed his crossbow down at the creature and shot. The arrow went right throw its eye and brain and the head finally stopped moving. Daryl put his foot on the head to pull out his arrow. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't ya'll know nothin'?"

Everyone went back to camp. I followed next to Dale. Daryl called for Merle. It was time to tell him about his brother.


	5. Chapter 5

Everyone grew tense as Daryl called for his brother. When he didn't answer, Daryl grew impatient.

Shane called to Daryl saying that they needed to talk. It was the moment of truth. Daryl turned around, still carrying his kill. "'Bout what?"

"About Merle. There was a... a problem in Atlanta." Shane faced Daryl. Everyone watched, silently. We all wondered what Daryl was going to do. Well, we were more terrified about what he would do. Daryl was very unpredictable.

Daryl automatically thought the worst. "He dead?"

Shane lowered his voice. "Not sure."

Daryl wasn't pleased with Shane's answer. "Either he is or he ain't."

Rick butted-in, "There's no easy way to say this so I'll just say it." He walked to Daryl, calmly. He tried not to stir things up.

"Who are you?"

"Rick Grimes," Rick answered.

Daryl didn't understand the situation at hand. "Rick Grimes. You got somethin' you wanna tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all." Rick's patience seemed to be slipping slightly. "So I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

Daryl paced back and forth. He was obviously confused. "Hold on. Let me process this." He rubbed his head. His voice grew intense and loud. "You sayin' you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there!" I could tell that this was going to get ugly real quick.

"Yeah," was the only word that Rick could let out.

Daryl stood for a second, not sure of what to do. A split second later, he threw his arm-full of dead squirrls at Rick and launched himself at him. Before he came a foot closer, Shane took him down.

T-Dog dropped the logs that he was carrying and came over to where everyone had been standing. Daryl pulled out a knife from his side and slashed it at Rick. I took another step back. My back was now pressed up against the RV.

Rick and Shane tag-teamed against Daryl and snatched his knife before someone seriously became injured. Daryl shouted, "You best let me go!" Anger was running through his core.

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't." Shane has him in a choke hold.

"Choke holds illegal." Daryl didn't like it but he was becoming more calm as Shane brought him to the ground.

Rick kelt down to Daryl's current level. "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic." His voice was soft and even. "Do you think we can manage that?" Rick repeated his last question.

Shane dropped Daryl to the ground. Daryl sat there for less then a second trying to catch his breath. Rick continued with their discussion. "What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others." What an understatement. Merle chooses not to be around people for a reason.

T-Dog interviened. "It's not Rick fault. I had the key." Great. Daryl is going to get worked up again because multipul people screwed his brother over. "I dropped it."

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl, still on the ground, was ready to kill someone.

"Well I dropped it in a drain."

Daryl stared at the dirt he was sitting on. He slowly picked himself up. He stayed for a second, thinking. He walked over to T-Dog. "If that's supposed to make me feel better, it don't." He threw a rock that he had picked up before he stood, to the side.

T-Dog was determined to fix everything. "Maybe this will. Look I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him, with a padlock."

"It's gotta count for something." Rick was right. T-Dog tried to save Merle's life, but I'm not sure if Daryl saw that.

Daryl tried to hold back his tears. "Hell with all of ya'll. Just tell me where he is, so I can go get him."

Lori decided that this was the best time to put her two-sense in. "He'll show you." I turned my attention to her. She was staring her husband down. "Isn't that right?" It grew silent as Rick took in what his wife had said.

After what seemed like an hour, Rick finally spoke. "I'm going back."

Lori, clearly upset, climbed into the Rv. Daryl walked passed Rick. Rick let out a long sigh and walked to his tent. At that point everyone broke up.

After everyone had begun to carry on with their day, I stood against the RV. Something didn't feel right. It was like my body wouldn't let me move. This bad feeling just didnt leave. I forced my left foot to go in front of the other. Maybe it was too hot.

Eventually, I reached my tent. I tried to sit, but I ended up fall harshly on my back on my bed. It burned the cuts but it felt good.

I stayed there motionless only for a short time. I thought that maybe there was a chance I would never see Merle Dixon again. I didn't want to be reminded about our night together. I thought that this would be a good time for me to return Merle's knife to him without actually giving it to him personaly. I'll give it to Daryl.

I stood up suddenly and grabbed the knife from my nightstand. I marched out, hoping to get this done as soon as possible. I want this whole thing behind me.

I was about twenty feet from Daryl when Rick was walking out with Shane behind him. Shane was shouting slightly at Rick. "Could you through me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?" I would have to agree with Shane. Rick was a smart man. Why would he be making such a stupid decision? Merle wasn't worth anything to anybody.

"Hey," well except for Daryl, "choose your words more carefully."

"No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant." I chuckled silently to myself at Shanes last remark. No one had seemed to notice. Shane carried on. "Merle Dixon. The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst." Shane was right again about Merle. The man only cared for himself.

What Rick had said back to Shane surprised me and the rest of the camp. "What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thrist, me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being." Shane knew that Rick was right. Rick walked away once he was done explaining himself.

Lori still wasn't pleased. "So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" We all knew that could not have been it. There had to be another piece to Rick's puzzle. And there was.

Rick turned his sights to Glenn. He didn't have to say a word before Glenn knew what Rick was going to ask. He sighed dramatically. "Come on."

"You know the way," Rick explained. "You've been there before, in and out, no problem. You said so yourself." Again, Rick was correct.

I couldn't help but think of the time that Glenn and I went on a run into the city. The only reason I went was because we needed supplies desperately and he needed another set of hands to carry all of the stuff. Once we were in the store, we each took half the list. He was too quick for me. He had all of the items on his list, and then some, before I had a quater of mine. Glenn wanted to go as soon as possible, so he picked up the other half of my list. He slipped the items into my bag and we were back before sunset. I had a lot of trouble walking the next few days due to the pain in my legs.

"It's not fair of me to ask. I know that. But I'd feel a lot better with you along." Rick pointed to Lori. "I know she would too."

Shane didn't wait for Glenn's response. He jumped right back on Rick's ass. "That's just great. Now you're gonna risk three men, huh?"

"Four." I turned to the voice behind me. T-Dog was volunteering to go along with them.

Daryl made a loud huffing sound. "My day just gets better and better, don't it?" He obviously wasn't pleased with T-Dog's decision to tag along. He should be appreciating all the help he could get.

T-Dog had enough of Daryl's snide remarks. "You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's craker ass?"

Daryl was confused. I was too. "Why you?" Daryl asked.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language." No one speaks your language T-Dog. You hardly ever speak.

"That's four," Dale added.

Shane was becoming angrier that he was being outnumbered. His voice sped up in desperation. "It's not just four. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that Rick. Come on, you saw that walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got." I was suddenly afraid of his words. They created a terrifying scene in my head. It was one that only existed in movies, but so did the living dead. "We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp."

"It seeme to me what you really need most here are more guns." Rick's reply confused us all even more. Where did he know about guns that we could get to?

Glenn new exactly what he was talking about. "Right, the guns." Fill us in, please.

Shane showed his disorientation more then everyone else."Wait. What guns?"

Rick listed all of the guns that he had dropped in a bag when he was swarmed. It sounded as if there would be enough to last us a descent amount of time. Now, I was convinced that they should go. It would be helpful to us all, not just Merle and Daryl.

Lori didn't see the way I did. She usually never does. "You went through hell to find us. You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?" Carl agreed with is mother. "To hell with the guns. Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with the guns thrown in." The guns would protect us all. How does she not see that?

Rick walked over to Lori to try to calm her down. "Tell me," she demanded. "Make me understand."

"I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy. Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all." His story was bringing tears to my eyes. I was always a sucker for this kind of thing. "They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn 'em."

"What's stopping you?" Lori's voice was quiet. It seemed that she was hardly able to get those three words out.

Rick continued to explain that he gave the man a walkie-talkie so he would be able to contact him. The other walkie was in the bag that he had dropped. Shane knew about the walkies that Rick was talking about. They only connect to each other so, in this case, our CB is useless.

Rick was now pleading with his wife. "I need that bag." He walked over to Carl. "Okay?" he whispered. Carl nodded, giving Rick his approval.

The men were now packing up for the trip. Rick walked over to Dale to ask him something. I was going to stay with Dale to listen in, but I saw Daryl in the back of the box truck. This was definately my last opportunity.

I walked over to the truck and pulled out the knife from the back of my shorts. I hid it there when everyone had begun to sperate. "Hey," I called to Daryl. I didn't take my eyes off the ground. "I have something that you need to give Merle."

"What?" he asked quietly. I lifted my hand with the knife in it. "Where the hell did ya get that?" He questioned as he snatched it out of my hand.

My eyes slowly picked up to his. I never noticed how blue they were. "Um... he... uh... left it in my tent." I managed to spit out.

"What was he doing in your tent?" I had a feeling he knew the answer. I stood quiet while he waited. If he didn't know the answer before, he knew now. "Oh, I see."

"Could you please just give it back to him?" I wanted this conversation to be over, now.

"Yeah, no problem." He seemed to start becoming nervous for some reason. "He ran over the drivers side of the truck and kicked the horn. The loud honk forced me to jump back slightly. He shouted to the men. "Come on let's go!" It was clear that he was impatient.

I was about to walk away when something forced me to tell him, "Good luck." He nodded and I turned to walk back to my tent as fast as I could.

"Hey." I stopped. I slowly turned to see that Daryl had called to me. "Be careful. You might want to stay out of the water until that heals." He pointed to my back. I had forgotten that I changed my shirt. I was wearing a tank top now. My scratches were clearly visable. "You don't want that to get infected."

"OH, thanks for the advice." I smiled at him. I didn't wait to see if he smiled back or not. I just walked as fast as my feet would allow me back to my tent.


	6. Chapter 6

I spent only a small amount of time in my tent. I couldn't sit there anymore and think about Daryl's beautiful blue eyes any longer. I walked out of my tent and saw some of the women walking down to the quarry with clothes. I ran over to Andrea and asked if I could join. She had no problem with it.

Once we were down there, we bagan to wash the clothes and share some stories about each other. I wasn't really paying much attention to them. The sight of Shane and Carl playing in the water, caught my eye.

When I was younger, I dreamed of having a child of my own. I used to carry around a baby doll and pretend she was my child. I even gave her a name. I clung to the name Bella for years. If I ever had a girl, that would be her name.

Of course, now that dream is dead. There would be no chance of meeting the right guy in this world. Let alone have his baby. I don't think I would want to bring a child here anyway. The only thing that he or she would know is suffering.

Jackie's question brought me back to reality. "Can someone explain to me how the women wound up doing all the Hettle McDaniel work?"

"The world ended. Didn't you get the memo?" Amy commented. I let out a small chuckle. Amy was always the one to make me laugh.

After a break of awkward silence, Carol spoke up. "I do miss my Maytag." That started a whole new conversation. No one around here would mention the things that they had missed. It was a touchy subject.

"I miss my Benz, my sat naz." Andrea said.

Jackie missed her coffemaker. I couldn't agree more with her. She even described the features her's came with.

It took me only a second. "I miss my iPod. Over 1100 songs of pure happiness." This made me remember almost every song I had. They all seemed to be stuck in there all at once.

Amy's was close to making me cry. "My computer and texting." My life revolved around those things.

"I miss my vibrator." Everyone's eyes looked toward Andrea. She wasn't kidding. This put a smile on my face. The things people owned.

"Me too." Carol agreed. This made us all burst out into strong laughter. It was sort of funny. No one suspected that Carol would own such a thing.

Our laughter was cut short when Carol's husband, Ed, asked us why we were laughing. "Just swaping war stories Ed." Andrea told him.

We were all silent now as Ed grew closer. He was a tall, fat men who managed to scare us all in a matter of two seconds. She would never admitt it, but Carol had bruises and cuts on her all of the time. Ed was also a wife beater.

Andrea had grown sick of his crap as he hung around a few feet behind us. "Problem, Ed?"

"Nothin' that concerns you," he replied. "And you ought to focus on your work. This ain't no comedy club."

We carried on with our work, trying to forget that Ed was there. Everyone had seemed to, well except for Andrea. "Ed, tell you what. You don't like how your laundry is done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself. Here." She threw the wet shirt that was in her hand, to him.

He didn't take too kindly to it. Ed threw the shirt back at her, where it hit her in her chest. She let out a small wince. "Ain't my job, missy."

"Andrea, don't." Amy tried to warn her sister but it was useless.

"What is your job, Ed? Sitting on your ass smoking cigarettes?" Andrea sassed. At that point, I got up and stood next to Amy. We could both tell that this wasn't going to end well and we were ready to have Andrea's back.

"Sure as hell ain't listening to some uppity smart-mouthed bitch. Tell you what. Come on. Let's go." Ed was calling to Carol. She reluctantly stood up and began walking over to Ed.

Andrea wasn't going to have it. "I don't think she needs to go anywhere with you, Ed."

"I say it's none of your buisness. Come on now." He was demanding that Carol follow. "You heard me."

Andrea tried to make Carol stay, but Carol knew better then to try. "Andrea, please, it doesn't matter."

Ed wasn't waiting any longer. "Hey, don't think I won't knock you on your ass, just 'cause you some college-educated cooze. All right?" Ed was threatening Andrea now. He now spoke to Carol. "Now you come on now or you gonna regret it later."

Jackie finallly spoke in Carol's defense. "So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed? Yeah, we've seen them."

"Stay out of this." Ed, was speaking to all of us. We were all prepared to stand up for Carol. She didn't deserve Ed's abuse. Ed sure didn't deserve Carol. "Now come on!" His voice became louder. "You know what? This ain't non of y'alls buisness. You don't want to keep prodding the bull here, okay? Now I am done talking. Come on."

"Carol, don't. You don't have to." I called to her.

Ed grabbed her arm and started to pull Carol along. "You don't tell me what! I tell you what!" He slapped Carol across her face. Andrea started to hit Ed back as hard as she was able. Amy pulled Carol back. Everyone was shouting at once. Jackie, Andrea, and I fought Ed back. He still demanded for his wife.

We were close to loosing our battle when Shane came and ripped Ed away from us. He started hitting Ed as hard as he possibly could. There was anger in his eyes. Anger that none of us had seen before. We could see Ed's face begin to puff up and it was soaked in blood. Everyone was shouting for Shane to stop. Carol most of all.

Shane said something to Ed that wasn't audioable for me to hear. He finally picked himself off of Ed. Andrea couldn't hold Carol any longer and Carol ran over to her husband, pleading for his forgiveness. Shane looked at us once and walked away.

Ed seemed to be choking, so we all helped pitch in to bring him back up to the camp. That was all I could help with. I didn't want to see him patched up. He deserved to die. I just didn't want anyone else to know what was in my mind, so I helped.

After he was up in his tent, I walked back to mine. Once I had calmed down, I crawled into my bed. For some reason, I was exhausted. I had maybe been up for six or seven hours. I could usually last twelve or more before I felt the slightest bit of exhaustion.

I was out in a matter of seconds. I never dreamed much. That is until today. My dream was nothing out of the ordinary. I dreamt to was about to die, then I would wake up when I did. Not this time. It started just like that, until a man saved me. He protected me from everything. He was mine and we lived happily ever after. This was the first time I had ever dreamed about Daryl Dixon.


	7. Chapter 7

Once my eyes opened, there was black through out my tent. The night had fallen and everyone was outside, sitting around the campfire. This was nothing new. It happened every night. I decided to join them. It was hard to believe that I slept the day away.

My mind was else where when I took my place next to Amy. The smell of fresh fish filled the air around us. Amy held up the tin. "You want any?"

"Please, is that even a question?" I joked. I took a freshly cooked fish and started to dig in. Something didn't feel right. It was too quiet. Everyone had been talking but not loud enough for everyone to be here. Rick, Daryl, Glenn, and T-Dog weren't back yet. Everyone seemed to notice but went on, enjoying their meal.

Morales broke the silence and asked Dale about his watch. It was an older model that never seemed to leave Dale's wrist. Dale winds it everyday and no one understood exactly why.

"Time," he began to explain, "it's important to keep track, isn't it? The days at least. Don't ya think, Andrea?" Dale pointed to her but she was equally confused. "I like- I like what, um," he continued, "a father said to son when he gave him a watch that had been handed down through generations. He said, 'I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire, which will fit your individual needs no better then it did mine or my father's before me; I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you may forget it for a moment now and then and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it.'"

Everyone fell silent as they let his words sink in. It was good advice and something truely beautiful.

Amy broke everyone's deep thoughts. "You are so weird." Dale tried to play it off by saying that it was his bad paraphrasing of William Faulkner. Amy stood up from her seat and went to the bathroom.

Everyone continued their usual joking around. That is until we heard a fatal scream coming from the RV. Everyone turned thier heads simultaniously. Amy had been bit in the arm by a walker. I screamed in horror as my friend fell to the ground.

More walkers were coming from all directions. Shane shouted to Lori and he started to fire at the nearby walkers. I tried to make a move to the top of the RV, but was sidetracked by a walker heading straight for me. I went to grab my knife from my pocket, but I had forgotten that I left it in the tent. "Shit," I whispered to myself and tried to climb the ladder. It was too late. The walker was too close. I had to fight it off and pray that someone would come to help me.

I grabbed its neck, keeping it as far away from my flesh as possible. It faught against me, I was coming close to losing. My arm was giving out and the walkers mouth was about a foot from my face. I had lost hope. It looked like no one had remembered me and were too busy with the other walkers to even look.

I let my arm fall, when there was a gunshot and the walker fell to my feet. I glanced forward and saw Daryl with his gun pointed up in my direction. "What the hell ya waitin' for? Get your ass on the top of the damn RV!" For once in my life, I didn't wait. I climbed and trusted that it was all clear. My instincts told me to follow Daryl's words, and they were right.

Once on the top, I observed the camp. Rick was holding Carl close. Glenn paced around, making sure that all of the walkers were dead. There were several casualties.

Sorrow ran through my veins as I looked over to the two sisters. Andrea was on the ground, holding Amy, trying to stop the bleeding. She knew that it wouldn't help but she still tried. It looked as if Amy had stopped moving and Andrea began to weep. Amy was dead.

Everyone that was left stared at Andrea, grieving. We had all lost our friend. It was making it worse when Andrea wailed her sister's name, trying to wake her.

My eyes turned to Jim as I heard him say, "I remember my dream now." I wasn't sure what he meant, but now was not the time to worry about it.

It took me a second to notice the tears streaming down my face. Each time I rubbed them off, more came. This was the only movement that I could make, that is until I heard a voice softly speak to me.

"Hey, it looks safe." Daryl didn't look up from the ground. "You can come down from there."

It pained my body to move. It took everything in my being to climb down the ladder. Once down, I stood, not knowing what to do next. We never planned on this sort of thing happening.

Shane and Rick checked the perimeter at least five times before telling us it was safe. Shane instructed us to go to sleep and to zip up our tents, just in case there were more. They were going to bury our group members and burn the others tomorrow.

My eyes caught Andrea again. She still hadn't moved. It didn't look like she was going to move either. I just stared. The tears still fell from my eyes. Amy was gone. She was such a good friend, someone I could talk to. Now she's gone and is bound to come back as one of those things.

I was lost in thought, when someone placed their hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Daryl looking at Andrea. "You should go to bed. Ya don't need to see this." He still hadn't moved his eyes.

I nodded. I bagan to walk away, but stopped and turned to him. "Um, Daryl?"

He finally met my gaze. "Yeah?" he said softly.

"Thanks for saving my life." He nodded a 'you're welcome' kind of nod, turned and walked back to his tent. I did the same.

Once inside of my tent, I followed Shane's instructions and zipped the door and the windows, tightly. I had changed into my pajammas and layed down to sleep. Only, sleep didn't come. Partially because my back was still stinging from my fall earlier, but there was another reason. Daryl saved my life. Why? Why me? He could have saved anyone else he wanted to and he saved me. I was no one to him. I was just the last girl to sleep with his brother. This thought pondered my mind until the sun began to rise.

There was a rustle outside. Someone was awake. I unzipped the one window next to my bed to, only slightly, to see who it was. Shane and T-Dog were checking around one last time before starting to dispose of the bodies. More and more people joined them. This was a fantastic time to join the rest of the group.

I rushed and grabbed whatever clothing I could and threw it on, not worrying whether or not it was clean. I walked outside and noticed that Andrea was still beside Amy. It had been hours since she passed. Glenn walked by at that moment. "Psst, Glenn." I whispered. He stopped and walked back to me. "How long she been like that?"

"All night," Glenn replied. "She won't let anyone near her or take her." He didn't wait to see my reaction to his answer, and carried on with whatever he was doing before my interuption.

They had already begun a fire with a few bodies in it. The smell was grusome. Dale was standing by the fire pit. "Dale, how can you take that smell? Its making my stomach upset," I joked with him.

"It's not that I'm used to it, if that's what you're thinking." Dale smiled as I walked his way.

"Well, then-" I couldn't finish my sentence. Before I knew it, I ran behind the tree Dale was standing by, opened my mouth, and let all my bile out. The smell was truly getting to me. Dale rubbed my back as I vommited.

"There, there. Let it all out." He didn't leave my side until he was sure that I had finished. "You alright?"

"I- I don't know. That's never happened before," I explained. "Maybe bad fish or something? I don't know."

"Well maybe you should go back to your tent and lie down. This heat isn't good for ya and the burning bodies isn't either." Dale truly expressed his concern for me.

"No, Dale. I think I'm fine. No matter where I go, I won't be able to escape the smell. Thanks though."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. Maybe I'll just get some water and wash out my mouth." I walked away before he could argue with me. I knew I wouldn't be the one to win that battle. Without thinking, I ended up in the RV.

I grabbed a water bottle and drank. It was warm but it tasted perfect. It seemed to have calmed my nerves down and being out of the heat made it even better. In a matter of seconds though, my good feeling dropped from good to one hundred times worse. I had a perfect view of Amy and Andrea.

Someone needed to put an end to this. It wasn't good for Andrea to sit there with her dead sister. Rick and the others must have thought the same because Rick headed straight to Andrea. Before he could say a word, she cocked her gun and put it in his face. Rick stopped and retreated. Daryl, Lori, Rick, and Shane seemed to start discussing what they should do. From what I could see, Daryl seemed to want to take Amy out from where they stood, but it didn't look like he had a valid enough arguement. He stormed off to continue his work.

I was very careful not to disturb Andrea when walking out of the RV. I made my way over to Lori to see if there was anything that she wanted me to help with. My mind and body stopped when Daryl and Morales walked by, dragging one of our people. I didn't know his name, but now I would never have the chance. Daryl was pissed at the decision of burying that person and shouted that we all had this coming because they left Merle. Maybe he was right. Maybe this was bad karma.

Jackie was suddenly yelling. "A walker got him. A walker bit him." She was pointing to Jim. Everyone gathered around Jim to see if Jackie's accusations were true. Daryl ran over and demanded that Jim show us. Jim refused and grabbed a shove, prepared to defend himself. T-Dog grabbed him from behind and Daryl lifted Jim's shirt. There it was, clear as day, the bright red outlines of a bite.

"I'm okay," Jim kept repeating as everyone backed away.


	8. Chapter 8

"I say we put a pickaxe in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it." We stood around in a circle trying to come up with ideas on what we should do. Daryl's wasn't good but I could see where he was coming from. Shane didn't.

"Is that what you want if it were you?" Shane snapped.

"Yeah, and I thank you while you did it." Daryl was totaly loaded with crap. He would be blubbering like a baby if he was bit and we decided to kill him off.

"I hate to say it, I never thought I would, but maybe Daryl's right." What the hell did Dale just say? That wasn't like him, to take Daryl's side. It certainly wasn't like him to say we should take someone's life.

"Jim's not a monster, Dale, or a rabid dog," Rick explained. Dale tried to explain himself but Rick cut him off. "He's sick. A sick man. We start down that road, where do we draw the line?"

"That line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers or them to be." For some reason, my opinion was starting to lean more torwards Daryl's. I didn't like it but he was being logical and right.

"What if we can get him help? I heard the CDC was working on a cure." Rick was now desperate to save Jim.

"We've all heard that, but we have heard a lot of other things before shit hit the fan." My eyes met Rick's. He was ready to argue with me.

"What if the CDC is still up and running?"

"That chance is slim to none."

"That's a stretch right there." Shane seemed to be taking my side in this. It made me feel kind of good. Shane didn't like me for shit but here he was, helping argue Rick down.

"Why?" Rick complained. "If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the CDC at all costs, wouldn't they? I think it's our best shot. Shelter, protection."

"Okay, Rick, you want those things, all right? I do too, okay? Now if they exist, they're at the army base. Fort Benning." Shane thought he knew what was best. The only problem with this was the CDC and Fort Benning were in two different directions. There was about a hundred miles between them. "But it's away from the hot zone. Now listen to me. If that place is operational, it'll be heavily armed. We'd be safe there."

"The military was on the front lines of this thing. They got overrun. We've all seen that. The CDC is our best choice and Jim's only chance." Rick wasn't going to give in. His determanation was clear as day.

Daryl was still pretty pissed off and Rick's choices weren't making him any better. "You go lookin' for asprin, do what you need to do." He started to charge in Jim's direction with his pickaxe raised. "Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem." Daryl was close to smashing Jim's brain in when Rick called to him and pulled his gun.

"We don't kill the living." Rick stood without budging. Daryl slowly lowered his axe.

"That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head."

Shane was now between Daryl and Jim. "I disagree with some things, not on this. You put it down. Go on." Daryl was obviously outnumbered. He slammed the pickaxe down and stormed away. Rick and Shane took Jim to the inside of the RV where he would be safe.

Curiousity overtook me. I saw Daryl walk away but not to his tent. He took off in the opposite direction. It seemed as if when he was upset, he would go this way. I followed behind him, trying not to make any sounds. He was a master hunter and tracker. He would know I was there, so I followed far enough behind.

It wasn't long before he stopped. There was a small waterfall that must have led into the quarry. It was maybe a mile away from camp. Daryl sat on a rock that lie next to the tiny stream, his breathing heavy. His eyes were filled with anger and his body, tense. He stared at the falling water and his breathing slowed. In a matter of minutes, peace was flowing through him. "I know you're there. I ain't that stupid." He broke contact with the water to look at me.

"I, um- I'm sorry. I just, uh, saw you and you, uh seemed pretty upset." I couldn't stop stuttering. I must have looked like a stalker. "I'll, um leave. You look like you need time alone." I turned and started to spped walk back to camp.

"Wait." I stopped. My heart was flying a thousands miles a second. He wanted me to stop. "You don't have to go just 'cause I'm here." He looked back down at the ground.

My body slowly turned toward him. "Are you sure. It looks like you need your space."

"Had space my whole life."

"Um, okay." I paced myself back to him, not wanting to seem to eager to be by him. not wanting to seem like I wanted to be away from him. I wanted the middle. Once I reached the stream, I didn't look at him. All I could see was the water flowing through the rocks. "Beautiful," I mumbled.

"Yeah," Daryl agreed. "Been comin' here since I was young. It's peaceful."

"It really is." I sat on the grass, not realizing that my hand was inches away from his foot. I pulled it away quickly, hoping he didn't notice.

It was silent for some time until Daryl popped the big question, the one that had been on everyone's minds. "Why did you sleep with Merle?"

All of my senses of peace were gone. He had surprised me and I was at a loss for words. "Oh, um, well..." He stared down at me, waiting for an answer. "Well, I was just lonely I guess and Merle was the only one willing. I had enough booze to make it easy. Why?"

"I was just wondering considering that everyone thinks Merle is a dick. I can tell you do too, right?" He waited for me to respond. When I didn't move, he knew his answer. "Right. Well I have work to do." Daryl was back on his feet and began to walk away. He stopped a few feet away. "You comin'?"

"What?" Again, another surprise question. He was waiting on me.

"I ain't gonna let you stay out here by yourself. You're unarmed. Come on. I ain't got all day." I stood up and ran next to him. I didn't want to piss him off when he was offering to help me, protect me. Niether of us spoke the whole way back to camp. The silence was killing me but I kept quiet. He didn't want to hear my mouth.

Once we were back, he picked up his pickaxe and continued to smash heads. Daryl seemed to pretend that he wasn't just having a conversation with me. I guess he didn't want people to think that there was something going on between us. I didn't want that either.

Suddenly I was starving. I really wanted bacon, covered in chocolate, with a side of fries. Ew, wait. I never would eat anything like that. Why did I want that disgusting food for? Then, I wanted more and more kinds of food that would have made me extremely sick. Something was definately wrong here. Maybe with everything that has beem happening, my mind got screwed up.

Walking by, I noticed that Daryl was about to smash Ed. That son of a bitch deserved every damn thing he got. Carol walked over to him and took his axe. She repeatedly brought the axe over her head and hit as hard as she could into Ed's brain. I cringed. He may have deserved it but it wasn't pleasent to watch. Daryl noticed me standing there. He nedged his head and let me know not to look and to go back to my tent.

I stopped at the RV first. I needed to use the bathroom. It seemed that I needed to go a lot lately. I stopped in my tracks as I saw Andrea putting her ear to Amy's mouth. Amy's arm had begun to twitch and her body started to jerk. It had finally happened. Amy was now a walker. She slowly grabbed Andrea and Andrea pulled her up until they were both sitting. The moans coming from Amy's mouth told everyone that Amy had finally turned.

I seen Rick and Shane start to walk over. I backed up, trying not to be in their way, but stopped at the sound of a gun shot. Amy fell to the ground. Andrea lowered her gun and went back down to her, now permenately dead, sister.

Tears were flowing down my eyes as my knees hit the ground. 'It had finally happened.' Those words repeated in my head. Amy was a good friend and she will always have a place in my heart. Pain had hit every inch of my mind, body, and soul. I was in a zone that held me in my place.

Something was placed on my shoulder. This had brought me out of my zone and I turned head to the left. There was a hand thst squeezed my slightly. My eyes followed this arm that the hand was connected to. This arm didn't have any sleeves and connected to a broad shoulder. The neck that was connected to the shoulder held the head of a man, none other then Daryl Dixon.

My gaze stopped at his eyes. His were set on Amy and Andrea. Once he noticed me looking at him, he picked me up and carried me. I couldn't feel my legs. He brought me to my tent and layed me on my bed. He turned and walked to the door. Before leaving he turned to me and asked, "you alright?" I managed to nod slightly only because I didn't want him to see me as week. "Um, uh, okay then." Then he was gone.


	9. Chapter 9

Different shades of gray were spinning all around me. Everything was starting to mix. I couldn't even take it anymore. I needed to stand, stop laying here feeling sorry for myself. Amy was dead and I needed to move on. It was time to grow up and get a stronger mind and stomach. If I didn't, then my days were most certainly numbered.

I pushed my body to sit up and swing my legs over, off the bed. For some reason, I didn't have the strength to pull my body up into a standing position. Gravity had me pinned, trying to push me back down. It almost won when there was a slight tap on my tent.

"We're gonna have a litte service. Bury Amy and everyone else." Rick stood in my doorway, waiting for me to respond. In a way, it was a relief to see Rick standing there and not Daryl. That might have been awkward. I wouldn't know what to say.

Seeing that I couldn't even open my mouth he asked if I needed medical attention.

"No, I'm... I'm fine. I just, uh, need a minute to regroup. I'll be at the service." Eventually I was able to move.

Absentmindedly, I ended up walking to the service. Andrea and Dale were placing Amy in her plot, when I arrived. Andrea struggled, but when Dale tried to help, she insisted that she could do it herself.

After everyone else was buried properly, the group headed over to the camp fire site, while Rick and Lori checked on Jim. Jim was still alive but he wouldn't be for long. That bite was bad. He had no chance and limited choices left. Either kill him now or watch him become one of those things. It was horrible to think about but it was unavoidable.

I sat by myself, while everyone tried to move on. Memories was constantly streaming through my mind. Every one of them were from before the outbreak. I wanted to cry at the thought of my mother, my friends, everyone I had lost, but I couldn't. Maybe there were no more tears left to be shead.

My mind was so far gone, I didn't even notice that everyone had gathered around me. Shane was speaking but I didn't catch what the words were.

Glenn was one of the last to leave as everyone went off and thought about whatever Shane had just said. It must have been important if everyone had to think about it. I caught up with Glenn and asked him what Shane was talking about.

"They're planning on going to the CDC," he explained. "If you want to go with them, then they leave in the morning."

"Are you going?"

He paused and thought for a moment. "I don't know yet. I really have to think about my options. If I look at it really hard, I only see two. It's either go with them to the CDC where I would be with people and not be sure if I'll be safe or go off to God knows where by myself and not be sure if I'm safe. So I could end up screwed no matter what way I look at it." Glenn's options made me finally realize something about myself.

"Those are the same two options I have." I sighed loudly.

"'Guess neither of us have a choice then to go with them, huh?" Glenn was smiling at me. I couldn't help but to smile back.

"Yeah. Like you said, we're screwed either way. Might as well be with people." He chuckled slightly and walked to gather his belongings. I followed his lead and started to pack up mine. It was time for our adventure into Atlanta, to the CDC.

Morning had finally come. Everything was packed and ready to go. Everyone was circled around Shane and Rick, waiting for instruction. Shane was the first to speak. "Alright everyone, listen up. Those of you with the CBs, we're gonna be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a CB, can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit the horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"

"We're not going." Too many pairs of eyes to count all shot their gaze to Morales and his family. They would be the only ones not coming with us. His wife explained about having family in Birmingham. Shane tried to convince them to stay but Morales wanted to take a chance. Rick gave Morales one of the guns and Shane gave him rounds.

Morales and his family went around, giving hugs and goodbyes. After his wife gave me a hug, we walked over to me and and held me tightly. "You take care of yourself kiddo."

"You too. I'll miss you." I didn't want to let him go. Morales was a good man, but he had to do what was best for his family. That, I understood. Once he released me from his hold, he moved on to the others. I, again, tried to let a tear fall but, again, one would not fall. Was it possible for a person to have cried so much that they run out of tears?

After our farewells, it was time to move on. I sat in the RV, at the table. All I could do was stare out the window. Jim was laying in the bed with Jacqui by his side. Glenn sat in the passenger seat with a map, reading to Dale the directions.

We did not go very far until the RV started to slow down. Dale had to stop and signaled everyone else to as well. He met Rick outside and they both tried to figure out our next move. Everyone filed out of their vehicles to make sure everything was okay. Jacqui stayed inside with Jim.

The RV needed some kind of hose to start up again. I was never too good with vehicles so when they were talking about it, I was lost. Shane said he may have spoted a gas station up ahead when suddenly, Jacqui ran out, saying Jim's condition has worsened and he couldn't possibly take much more. Rick went inside to talk to Jim as Shane and T-Dog drove ahead to see what they could find.

I stayed outside, hoping that the fresh air would bring me peace. Every little noise would make me jump and nearly scream. It wasn't healthy and I needed to figure out how I could distract myself. I needed something to keep me occupied. At that second, Daryl walked by. "You alright?"

"Um, yeah. Fresh air is all I need I guess." I tried not to meet his gaze. I didn't want him think I was weak, but that didn't work. He saw right through me.

"Bullshit. Sit down. I'll get you some water. You look like you're gonna pass out." I did as he said, without question. Daryl brought me back a bottle of water and demanded that I drink it. "You might be dehydrated." He was right. After chugging down the bottle in seconds, I perked up.

"Thanks. I feel a lot better now." I smiled at him and felt warm inside as I did.

"No problem." At that moment, Rick walked out of the RV and Shane and T-Dog were back.

"Jim wants us to leave him," he said, calmly.

"And he's lucid?" Carol questioned.

"He seems to be. I would say yes"

"Back at camp, when I said Daryl might be right," Dale commented, "and you shut me down, you misunderstood. I would never go along with killing a man. I was just gonna suggest that we ask Jim what he wants. And I think we have an answer."

"We just leave him here? We take off? Man, I'm not sure I could live with that." I was with Shane on this. It would be on all of our conscience.

"It's not your call," Lori pointed out, "either one of you."

The decision has been made. Rick and Shane helped Jim out of the RV and sat him up against a tree. Shane tried to convince him that it didn't need to be like this but he made his choice. Jim was sticking to it. Every member of the group seemed to line up to say goodbye. Jacqui was first. Rick came second and offered a gun to Jim. Jim refused to take it. Next came Dale and then the rest.

I was one of the last to leave. I walked slowly to him. "Thanks for being there for us all Jim."

"No problem. And hey, do me a favor. Take care of Daryl. You two seem to be getting close. It looks like he needs someone like you in his life anyway." I was confused by Jim's request. Jim was never close to Daryl and Daryl tried to kill him. It must be the hallucinations.

"Whatever you say, Jim." I shook his hand lightly, trying not to cause him too much pain, turned and started to walk away. I stopped in my tracks as soon as I saw Daryl standing merely a few feet behind me. I wondered if he heard Jim's request.

I made my way back to the RV, realizing that I had been blushing. How long have I been? I pray Daryl didn't see it.

As soon as everyone was in their cars, we started on our journey once again. I kept my eyes away from the windows, not wanting to see Jim sitting against the tree or Daryl driving his truck.

It may have been minutes. It may have been hours. I wasn't sure. All I knew was we finally arrived. The RV was the first to stop while the others followed. I followed Glenn and Jacqui out of the RV and waited for the others to catch up. There were dead bodies and flies everywhere. I could hardly hold my food. Glenn saw that I was struggling and he placed his hand on my back. When nothing came out of my mouth, I grabbed his hand. "Thanks."

"Yeah," was all he could say.

Rick lead us threw the horrifying site. I stayed close to Glenn because I didn't have a gun. Glenn did. All I had was my knife.

We finally reached the doors, but they were closed, locked. Rick and Shane tried to push, knock, whatever they could to try and open them. Their attempts were useless. T-Dog claimed there to be no one there. "Then why are these shutters down?" Rick questioned.

"Walkers." My head turned as I heard Daryl's voice. There were a few walkers approaching us and night had begun to fall. Daryl took them out with his cross bow.

Panic had begun to set in. Everyone had started questioning Rick's call. Hell was breaking loose in our little group as Rick tried to get the door to open. People were trying to figure out our options but they were more limited then anticipated. We were out of food and barely any fuel. We wouldn't make it very far.

Shane was pushing everyone back to the cars, when Rick claimed he saw the camera move. Rick stared at the camera as Shane tried to get him to move. "The camera is dead." Shane claimed. Rick refused to listen. He slammed on the door, determined to get someone to let us in.

Everyone began to run back to the cars. Rick was persistant. He wouldn't give up. Lori tried to pull him back. I just stood there, not sure where to go. Something abruptly grabbed my arm and started pulling me towards the cars. "Let's go, girl!" Daryl yelled.

At first, I let me legs go with him, but I stopped. There as a flash of light coming from the doors. "Daryl, stop!" Someone had opened the doors.


	10. Chapter 10

We stood in shock for a brief second. Rick was the first to move forward, gun up. Everyone rushed to follow. I stayed close to Daryl. I felt safest around him.

"Hello?" Rick called. With no answer, Rick called again.

I could hear Shane behind us. "Close those doors. Watch for walkers."

This was one of the few places that I had never been to before. The surroundings we had just entered was new territory. Even with the darkness of outside and the dimness of the lights, the inside of the CDC shinned.

The sound of a gun cocking drew our eyes towards a man in a t-shirt and jeans. It appearded that he hadn't been out of here in months. "Anybody infected?" he questioned.

"One of group was," Rick explained. "He didn't make it."

"Why are you here? What do you want?" Wasn't it obvious?

"A chance," was Rick's answer.

"That's asking for an awful lot these days." Correct sir, that is why we came here.

Rick's voice began to shake with worry. "I know." The man was silent. It was all too deafening.

The man finally spoke. "You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

"We can do that," Rick agreed.

The man dropped his gun. "You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed." All of the men ran out and grabbed all of our belongings. T-Dog and Dale shut the doors when every person had returned. The man slid a card into a key pad and spoke again. This time, it wasn't to us. "Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here." The steel doors on the outside were closed.

Rick introduced himself, as did the man. "Dr. Edwin Jenner."

He took us to an elevator. Daryl broke the awkward elevator silence by asking a question. "Doctors always go around packing heat like that?"

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself," he answered. "But you look harmless enough." He turned towards Carl, who looked scarred out of his mind. "Except for you. I'll keep my eye on you." This brought a small smile to the child's face.

Once we were off the elevators, Jenner showed us where we would be staying. We were underground but that didn't bother me at all. The only thing I cared about was being safe. He again began to speak. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." The lights came on and revealed many desks and chairs with computers on top of them. There was only one problem.

"Where is everbody?" Rick asked. "The other doctors, the staff?"

"I'm it. It's just me here."

Lori expressed concern. There had to be more people then just this guy. "What about the person you were speaking with? Vi?"

"Vi, say hello to our guests," Jenner commanded. "Tell them... welcome."

There was a loud voice overhead. "Hello, guests. Welcome."

"She's a computer?" My mind was confused. He was the only one left with a freaking computer!

"Yeah. I'm all that's left." Jenner paused and let us take it in. I was beginning to have doubts about this place. "Let's get that blood sample." He lead us to a room with more empty chairs, told us to sit, and grabbed the supplies. Andrea was first.

She nearly fainted when she stood. "She hasn't eaten in days," Jacqui explained. "None of us have."

Jenner just looked at her, then to the rest of us. He could tell that we were all starving. "When we finish here, I have to show you all something."

It only took about ten minutes to get through everyone in our now smaller group. I was second last to go, Daryl being last. Needles didn't bother me much. It was the blood that was being taken out of my body that scarred me. Blood wasn't the problem. It was my blood, something I strongly believed should stay in my veins.

Daryl noticed my discomfort. "'Fraid of needles or sumthin'?"

"Nope. Just blood." I turned my gaze toward Daryl, trying not to think about the blood being drawn.

"Sucks when there's blood everywhere." It was hard to tell if Daryl was joking or not. He wasn't smiling or laughing but his tone made it feel like I should laugh. Instead, I just sat there, staring at him. "Whatchu lookin' at?" How long was I staring at him?

"Nothing."

"All done." Jenner pulled the needle out of my arm. Thank the Lord. This was one of the most awkward moments I had ever shared with another person. I got up off the chair and basically ran to meet the rest of the group.

We all stood in silence, waiting for Jenner and Daryl. Once they had finally emerged from the room we followed Jenner into a kitchen. A kitchen with actual food. Lots of it too. "Eat what you want. There's food in here to last years. Nothing too fancy but still food." That night, we dined like royalty.

Us women cooked most of the food. Jenner even had wine. Alcohol. The body's best medicine. I poored myself a glass, chugged it down, and poored another. The sweet taste was something truly missed. Carl even tried some. He wasn't quite as big a fan as I was.

I took my place next to Glenn. It appeared that this was his first time ever drinking. He was getting hammered and didn't even realize it. Daryl told him to keep drinking. "I want to see how red your face can get." That would be a site to see. Glenn laughed and continued his drinking.

Rick stood up and everything went silent. "Seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly."

T-Dog raised his glass. "He is more than just our host." Everyone cheered in agreement. He was our savior. A smile spread across my face bigger then it had ever been, as I raised my half-emptied glass.

"Here's to you, doc," Daryl called over the cheers. "Booyah!" Everyone repeated the 'Booyah'. I couldn't help but to yell it myself.

Shane interupted our praise. "So when are you gonna tell us what happened here, doc?" What a jackass. "All the, a, other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?"

"We're celebrating, Shane." Rick wasn't pleased at all. "Don't need to do this now," he said, sitting back down next to Carl.

"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move, supposed to find out all the answers. Instead we, a, we find him." Shane pointed to Jenner. "Found one man. Why?"

Jenner felt the need to answer Shane's question. "Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left, went off to be with their families." Jenner explained. His tone was even, somber. "And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted."

Shane kept on prying for more. "Every last one?"

"No, many couldn't face walking out the door. They... opted out. There was a rash of suicides." Oh my God. That was one of the most horrible things my ears have been exposed to. My stomach began to churn and I covered my mouth with my hand. All of those poor people. "That was a bad time."

Andrea's curiosity got the best of her, as well. "You didn't leave. Why?"

"I just kept working, hoping to do some good."

Glenn was pacing around. He looked at Shane. "Dude, you are such a buzzkill, man."

"I, um, think I'm finished." I turned towards Jenner. "Where are our rooms?" I couldn't stand to be there anymore. Shane ruined this night and I wanted him to know that.

"I'll show you." Jenner stood up. We were about to walk out when Lori stopped us.

"I think we're all done, right?" Everyone's silence was taken as a 'yes'. "Let us clean up real quick and we'll come with you. Save him some trouble, walking back and forth."

"Okay, I'll help you." I grabbed my plate and washed it the best as I could in a minutes time. Everyone did the same.

Jenner lead us to a hallway with doors on either sides. "Most of the facility powered down including housing, so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like." A nice warm bed. I could go for that right now. "There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. The same applies. If you shower, go easy on the hot water." Hot? Water?

Everyone quickly grabbed a room. There weren't enough, so some people had to share. I grabbed a room parallel to Rick and Lori's. I placed my things on the couch. I had expected to have this room to myself, when there was a knock on the door. "There's no more rooms left. Do ya mind if I stay with ya?" Daryl was standing shyly in the doorway.

I was taken totaly by surprise. Why would he ask to stay with me? He hardly even knew me. "Um, yeah. I don't see the problem with that." Lie. I did see a problem with this. I didn't know him and he was going to be staying in the same room that I was.

He placed his bag in the opposite side of the room, trying to give me my space. Another awkward moment. What was I supposed to say to him now? This was a good time to leave." I'm gonna take my shower now." I grabbed my clothes and left without hearing his response.

The showers here were steel versions of college dorm bathrooms. There was lines of showers, almost like stalls. I walked to the end one, stripped, then turned on the water. The heat relaxed every bone in my tense body. It had been ages since I had a backrub. This felt like the same thing.

As fast as the good feeling came, it went away. The question of Daryl staying with me lingered in my mind. He could stay with anyone else and he chose me. Something seemed wrong, but right. How was that even possible? Did he just want to make it even more awkward, knowing that I slept with his brother? This was going to suck big time.

One thing lead to another in my mind. I began to start thinking even harder. This sickness I've been feeling. It wasn't right. I counted days in my head. Something was missing. I couldn't remember the last time I had my period. Impossible.

I hurried my shower, got dressed and run as fast as I my legs allowed me. When I entered, Daryl wasn't there. Good. He doesn't need to see my like this and I just didn't need to see him at all. I ran to the half bathroom attatched to the room. I nearly broke the the medicine cabnet opened. There it was. This place had everything. I grabbed three tests. Tested each three seperate times.

I walked out into the room as each one showed the results. They were all the same. "Shit! No!" Tears flowed from my eyes like there was no tomorrow.


	11. Chapter 11

How could this be possible? It was only days ago when I made the mistake of being with Merle. I shouldn't be showing pregnancy signs and testing positive this early. It had been at least six months since I had been with someone before that. If I was pregnant by that person, I would be showing by now.

Hystaria. I even tried two more tests to make sure these things weren't malfunctioning. Unfortunately, they weren't. My world was crumbling, splitting at the seams. Everything was falling apart. How could I bring a child into this hell we call life? That would just be cruel. This child wouldn't have a life. All it would know was fear. But how would I get rid of it. It's not like I could have an abortion or have the child then kill it. That is even more horrible. How could I even think of that?

"Whatchu cryin' for?" Jesus Christ, not now! I quickly rubbed my eyes and grabbed all of the tests.

"Nothing." I ran as fast as I could to the bathroom, shut and locked the door. "Just forget that I'm here." Tears were quickly flowing down my face. I put my back against the door incase he decided to try to come in. My legs could no longer support me. My body slid down the door until I was on the ground. Everything seemed to slowly fade away in the midst of my break down.

"What the hell is this?" There was a pause. What was he talking about? "What does two pink lines mean?" Daryl yelled. Anger, surprise, and confusion all wraped up into one. Wait. How did he know about two pink lines?

I looked down at my hands, still holding the tests. One, two, three, four... "Shit!" I shot up and tried to open the door, forgetting that I locked it. Once it was open, I ran to Daryl, ripping the last test out of his hand. "You weren't supposed to see this." I tried running back to the bathroom but Daryl grabbed my arm.

"Tell me! What does that mean?" he demanded.

I pulled my arm away. "What do you think it means? I wouldn't be crying for nothing." Instead of running, I just stared, not sure exactly what to do next. There was no escaping this. We would have to have this conversation sooner or later.

"Is it Merle's?" The anger was gone. All Daryl had left in his face was curiosity and still a little confusion.

"It has to be. I haven't been with anyone else in at least six months." I tried to sound as cooled down as possible. Upsetting Daryl was something I most certainly didn't need right now.

"Is that possible?" Dumb redneck.

"What do I look like, a freaking doctor? How the hell am I supposed to know?" I could feel my voice begin to raise.

"Well what are you gonna do?" He was expressing concern now. My anger level dropped. Tears began to flow harder.

"I don't know. What can I do? How am I supposed to bring a baby into this world? Just having it around could put us all in danger." I was freaking out. It was a normal thing I would do over much smaller things. This, well this was much larger then not getting to buy the phone I wanted. My panic level was through the roof.

What Daryl did next was something I thought that he would never do. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. The kind that was assuring me that everything was going to be alright. He seemed to have forgotten about my scratches on my back from my fall the other day. The pain was severe but it wasn't worth pulling away. The warmness of his hard chest melted my emotions away. I put my arms around him, pulling him as close to me as possible. There was no space between the two of us.

"We'll figure this out." We stayed this way for some time. I didn't want to leave his strong hold. It made it feel that this world was sane again. "Maybe Rick will know what to do." Moment ruined.

I place my hands on the top of his chest, pushing him away. "Please. You can not tell anyone. I'll figure it out but no one can know. Once I decide, I'll tell someone. But you have to keep this to yourself. Please." Begging was sad but I was desperate. This group already looks at me like I'm a burden. Knowing this will make everything so much worse.

He inhaled hard, thinking about what would best. Once he exhaled, I knew he made his decision. "Fine. But you can't hide this for long. You're gonna have to tell someone soon."

My arms wrapped around his tall torso and squeezed as tight as possible. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

The affection that I was showing was making him uncomfortable but instead of shaking me off, he stood there. He did not move until I released him. There was awkwardness between us as we stood nearly a foot or two away from each other. All we did was stare. He broke it. "Yeah, well, get some sleep. We'll figure this out better tomorrow."

There was no sense in arguing. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep with everything on my mind, but I obeyed him anyway. He was doing me a solid by keeping his mouth shut. The least I could do for him is listen. "Do you want the couch?" I wish there was more that I could offer him.

"No, you take it. I'm better off on the floor." He threw me a blanket and set up his bed.

"Thanks." He didn't respond. Daryl layed down and fell asleep in silence. He was drunk out of his mind, so hopefully he didn't even remember about the test, or even being here at all. If he does, I hope he remembers to keep it to himself.

That night, I tossed and turned, not being able to get comfortable. The thought of having a child dwelled in my mind. To even make matters a hell of a lot worse, the child's father was Merle and he wasn't even around. He was probably dead for all we knew. If I do decide to have this child, he or she is going to have to live without a father. That was something no child shouldn't have. Sure there was plenty of guys here that could be his or her male role model but they can't replace the child's real father. That cut me more then anything. I don't want my baby to suffer the same childhood I did. With walkers everywhere, make that ten times worse.

The problem that bore in my mind the most is if the child should or shouldn't be brought here. Did it deserve to be scared all of its life with only a small chance of living or do I end it now and not even allow the chance? I would be a horrible person either way.

I stayed up most of the night, watching the ceiling and Daryl sleep. I wondered if he was as worried and frightened as I was.


	12. Chapter 12

I was awoken by a slamming door. The noise sacred me and I nearly fell off of the couch. My breathing excellerated. I had been dreaming about being pregnant while running from walkers. The boom from the door brought the dream to life. How drunk was I last night?

After realizing my dream was only imagined, I scanned the room. Daryl was gone. He must have been the one to slam the door. I still had clothes on so that was a good sign. I remember him asking to bunk with me during our stay here at the CDC. He must have went to get some breakfest.

My stomach growled. I needed food. I grabbed some new clothes to change into and headed to the bathroom. I tossed them on the floor and began to change when something white caught my eye. Looking closer, there was more then one. There were multiple pregnancy tests. LAST NIGHT WASN'T A DREAM?

It was all coming back to me. The tests, the panic, pleading to Daryl. It wasn't a dream. It had all really happened. My life was over. There was no way I could hide this. I prayed that Daryl thought of a solution and remembered his promise. Everyone finding out about this would ruin me, push me over the edge.

I neeeded to act normal. I quickly changed and almost ran to the dining area. Everyone was there already halfway through their meal when I had arrived. Everyone smiled as if everything was just peachy. That was good. Daryl didn't tell a soul. I figured that he wouldn't be the kind to do such a thing anyway.

Worry and fear must have been plastered all over my face because Dale asked if I was doing alright. I assured him that everything was fine as I sat between him and Andrea. Glenn tried to see what Dale was concerned about, but the light hurt his eyes. He was more hungover then I had ever been. Poor little man.

Shane walked in, looking more pissed off then usual. This wasn't the hangover, though. Something must have went down last night. There were even scratches on his neck. He claimed he must have done it in his sleep but I could see straight through that lie. It appeared that Rick could, too.

Jenner joined us and poured himself a cup of coffee. Dale had some more questions to ask him. He and everyone in our group wanted answers.

We followed him to the main computer room where he had brought us before. Jenner showed us exclusive video of one of his test subjects. TS-19 had been bit and they recorded the transformation. He told us the part that makes us who we are dies and doesn't resurrect. Only our body and the part of our brain that controls it comes back.

I kept my eyes down, not wanting to see the lights of the once human fade away. It was too sad to know that the person you once were was gone forever as your body is doomed to roam the earth while it slowly decays. Why would a person even want to see that? Why would a child?

Once he explained the events, Jenner told Vi to power the main screen and the work stations back down. I lifted my eyes, knowing that it was over. They saw Daryl staring at Jenner, confused.

"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea could see all hope flying away when he answered no to this question. She was furious and figured someone somewhere had to know. In reality, it appeared no one was ever going to know.

Jenner believed that there could be others out there like him. He didn't know for sure, though. He claimed everything went down and he lost communication with the rest of the world. There was nothing left anywhere.

After hearing the news, everyone was in shock, including Daryl. "Man, I'm gonna get shit-faced drunk, again." I would follow his lead. Drinking seemed to solve all of my problems before. Why would it stop now?

Daryl was walking back to the fridge. My feet were close behind. He heard me and stopped. Daryl turned towards me and shook his head. He knew that I was going to go drinking and he wasn't having it. He remembered last night all too well. I stopped and Daryl continued on.

Dale asked a question that I didn't catch as I walked back. Daryl heard it loud and clear and stopped in his tracks. I did hear Jenner's response, though. "The basement generators- they run out of fuel."

"And then?" Rick questioned. Jenner didn't respond so Rick asked Vi instead. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?"

The computer voice came on overhead. "When the power runs out, facility wide decontamination will occur." That didn't sound good.

I sank down against one of the desks. What was going to happen to us? No one believed this. Shane, Rick, Glenn, and T-Dog went to check downstairs to make sure what Vi had told us was true. I knew they would turn up with nothing.

Daryl paced back and forth infront of me. He knew something was going to go down. He just didn't know what or when. He leaned down to me. "Go to our room and pack everythin' up. I have a bad feelin' we gonna have to leave quick." He helped me up and without question, I ran to our room. I packed all of our clothes and whatever essentials I could find into our bags. It had only been a few minutes when Daryl ran in. "Got it all?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Good." Daryl grabbed all of the bags and pushed them against the wall by the door. He turned towards me and saw the confusion. "Just in case." I nodded at him in reply.

I was standing infront of him under the air conditioner. The air had suddenly stopped streaming through. "What happened to the air?"

Daryl stared at the ceiling. "I don' know." He grabbed a bottle that was left over from last night and started drinking. The alcohol was something I craved. He saw me staring everytime he took a swig. "Hell no."

"Why not?" I was pissed. I required it more then he did.

"You got a bun in the oven. This shit screws all that up." He put the bottle to his lips again. Anger boiled deep within my core.

"I can make my own decisions. Now give me the damn bottle." I wasn't playing anymore. I was demanding that he stop fighting this.

"No. I ain't gonna let you do that." Daryl headed for the door when I ran after him. I was about to pounce on his back when the lights went out. What the hell was going on around here?

"Why did the lights go out?" I knew it was stupid to ask him. How would he know?

Daryl opened the door and leaned out of the hallway. Jenner happened to be walking by. It seemed that everyone's lights went out at once. They all questioned Jenner about the electrical situation. "What's goin' on? Why is everythin' turnin' off?" Daryl asked.

Jenner grabbed the bottle of liquor from Daryl's hand as he walked by. "The energy use is being prioritized." I walked over to the doorway, standing next to Daryl. Jenner gulped a mouthful down.

"Air isn't a priority? And lights?" Dale was equally confused with the rest of us.

Jenner kept walking as everyone followed. Daryl grabbed my hand and started pulling me along. "It's not up to me," Jenner confessed. "Zone 5 is shutting itself down."

Daryl wasn't pleased with Jenner's answer. "Hey! Hey, what the hell does that mean?" Jenner didn't reply. He just continued to go where ever he was going. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" Daryl was shouting now. It would be in Jenner's best interest to speak to him. "What do you mean it's shuttin' itself down? How can a buildin' do anything."

In that moment Shane, Rick, Glenn, and T-Dog returned from thier destination. Rick began to start questioning as well.

"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power, it's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half-hour mark. Right on schedule." Jenner was referring to the clock on the wall that was counting down. The clock read 00:31:27.

We reached the computers when Jenner had finally stopped. He drank some more as everything fell silent, awaiting his words. Instead of speaking, he handed the bottle back to Daryl who snatched it out of his hand. Daryl wasn't worried about the drink anymore. His grip tightened around my wrist.

Jenner was walking up the steps when he chose to speak again. "It was the French."

"What?" Andrea shared our confussion.

"They were the last to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the lab till the end." Jenner paused to take a breath. "They thought they were close to a solution." He turned and walked to the top of the steps.

"What happened?" Jacqui asked.

"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice. The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?" Jenner turned and started to walk toward his desk. Shane ran after him to kick his ass, but Rick stopped him.

Rick ordered Lori and the rest of us to grab our things. "We're getting out of here now!" All at once, everyone shot for the door, but stopped when an alarm sounded.

A large clock appeared on the main screen as Vi began to speak. "Thirty minutes to decontamination." Definately not a good sound.

"Doc, what's goin' on here, damn it?" Daryl was going to explode if he didn't get answers.

Shane was by the computers, heading to Jenner. "Ya'll heard Rick. Get your stuff and let's go! Go now! Go!" Thats when the steel door closed.

"Did he just lock us in?" Glenn's face was terrified. "He just locked us in!"

Shane was pacing rapidly. Carl ran to Lori. Daryl released my hand and ran after Jenner. "You son of a bitch." Rick called for Shane to stop him. "You locked us in here!" Shane was pleading him to stop. Shane and T-Dog held Daryl back before he could jab Jenner in the head with the nearly emptied liquor bottle.

Rick begged Jenner to open the door. "There's no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergancy exits are sealed."

"Well open the damn thing," Daryl demanded.

"That's not something I control. The computers do. I told you once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that." Jenner was pointing to Rick but was referring to all of us.

I rushed behind Daryl. That is where I felt most safe. This was going to end horribly but I would at the, very least feel safe.

"It's better this way."

"What is? What happens in twenty-eight minutes?" Jenner had refused to answer Rick before, but now he had no choice. Shane kicked Jenner's chair and Daryl was screaming at him.

Jenner erupted. "Do you know what this place is? We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!" He paused trying to calm himself down. He took a seat in one of the chairs. "In the event of a catastrophic power failure, in a terrorist attack for example, HITs are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."

"HITs?" Rick was staring Jenner down.

Jenner told Vi to define it for us. "HITs- high-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives consist of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear." Many of those words I never heard of. I did, however, understand explosive. We were all going to die. "The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen between 5,000 degrees and 6,000 degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired."

Rick, Carl, and Lori clung to each other. Most other people, like me, stood in shock as Jenner explained VI's definition in smaller words. "It sets the air on fire."

A pair of arms wrapped around me, pulling me close. The tough texture gave who it was away in an instant. I turned and wrapped my arms around Daryl, tears streaming down my face. I didn't wonder why he was hugging me. I simply didn't care. All I knew was our future was ending here. There was no escaping it. Daryl holding me was what made me come to terms with that.

Jenner added to his explanation. "No pain. An end to sorrow, grief, regret. Everything." No pain? My tears stopped. This could be my way out. If I chose to end it here, then my baby, the group, or me wouldn't have to suffer.

Daryl broke away quickly as Rick and Glenn followed him. They tried to unseal the door, but it was no use. Daryl threw the empty bottle in frustration. "Open the damn door!"

Shane ran to the door with an axe. Every strike meant nothing. T-Dog threw an axe to Daryl as well. This door was never going to budge.

I sat in the same place I did when Daryl pulled me up to go to our room. Jenner was saying something to Lori and Carol, who were on the other side of the desk, but I wasn't listening. I was weighing my options. If I end it now then everything would be fine. Everyone would be safe. I would be in peace without any regret. This child wouldn't have to know fear. I didn't see a reason to stay in this world. Looking at it, this was my only logical option. Die and be free. I accepted it.

My train of thought was interupted when Shane claimed that their effort wasn't making a dent. "Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher," Jenner informed them.

Daryl came after him, axe in the air. "Well your head ain't!" It took at least four men to prevent him from bashing Jenner's face in.

Rick was fighting to keep hope alive. In all reality, there was nothing left. No hope what-so-ever. We were all doomed to die. If not now, then soon. This was the painless choice. Any other way would be severe. I couldn't handle that.

Carol fought to get her and Sophia out. She believed that this was too cruel. Jenner was keeping us cagged like animals. Shane had enough playing around. He ran, grabbed a gun, and shoved it in Jenner's face. Rick tried to negotiate with Shane. The anger was overtaking him. Shane screamed and shot at nearby computers and lights on the ceiling, nearly hitting me.

Rick struggled but soon got the gun away. He elbowed Shane on the mouth and Shane was on the ground. Rick then turned to Jenner. "You're lying about no hope. If that were true, you'd bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?"

Jenner looked away. "It doesn't matter."

"It does matter. It always matters. You stayed when the others ran. Why?"

"Not because I wanted to. I made a promise..." Jenner stood up, his face in Rick's. "To her." He pointed to the main screen. "My wife." That's when everything clicked in my mind. TS-19 was Jenner's wife. She must have been bit while working on finding a cure. This showed how cruel this life really was. This is why I wanted out. "She begged me to go on as long as I could. How could I say no?"

I jumped when pounding began again. I looked over to see Daryl hitting the door with the axe again. Jenner continued to talk but I was focussed on Daryl. Every bang, every grunt, pain and anger went into each and every one. It got worse when he wasn't succeeding. He was getting more frustrated with every blow.

A small beeping noise brought my attention back to Jenner. He was pressing buttons on a tiny keypad. And just like that, the door was open. "Come on!" Daryl shouted as he ran out the door. Everyone followed except for Jacqui, Andrea, and me. Dale walked back to us and tried to convince us to move. He pled mostly to Andrea. When she refused, Dale decided to stay with her.

I sat, staring straight ahead, when a tall figure ran infront of me. I wasn't going to let him fight with me. "Go with them, Daryl. I'm not your problem anymore. I'm staying."


	13. Chapter 13

"Whatchu mean you're stayin'?" Daryl's expression said it all. He was pissed, worried, confused. His eyes were a dead give away.

"It'll be better this way. I won't have a child that will probably die anyway. You and the rest of the group won't have to put up with me anymore. It will be easier." I closed my eyes during the last part. I couldn't bare the see his face.

"The hell it ain't. You're comin'. End of discussion." Before I could protest, I was up in the air and bent over Daryl's shoulder. He was forcibly carrying me out.

"Dammit Dixon. Put me down." My arms were flying, hitting his back everytime. It didn't do much damage but at least he knew I was on a war path.

"I ain't gonna let you kill yourself." We were out the door. I was surprised at how fast he was walking with me over his shoulder.

"I want to die, dammit!" My screams could be heard through the entire building but everyone was too busy grabbing their belongings to pay any mind. Daryl finally put me down when we arrived at our room. He grabbed all of the bags with one hand and pulled me along with the other. I refused to go with him. "Let me go! Let me die!"

He stopped and turned to me. "No! Now whether or not you like it, you're comin' with me."

"If I want to stay, I'll stay. The clocks ticking, Dixon. Get your ass out of here." I wasn't going to let him die because of me. I pushed him as hard as I could. That didn't work much since he was built like a brick house.

What Daryl said to me in response caught me by surprise and even hurt. "You don' want to die. You just don' want the responsibilites of raisin' a kid. You are one of the most selfish bitches I've ever met. I ain't gonna let you die for sumthin' as stupid as this." Again, without waiting for my response, he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. He grabbed any remaining bags and we headed to the front.

There was no use in fighting it anymore. I simply relaxed on his shoulder, allowing him to carry me away from my only plan. Everything was crumbling again. I just wanted it all to end.

He carried me to the front door where most of the rest of the group were. Jenner was right. These doors were sealed and there was no chance of us getting through them. That is when they decided to try the windows. Daryl dropped me and threw Shane an axe as they tried to break the windows. Not even a scratch.

This would have been the perfect time to run back, to be with Andrea and Jacqui as we all died together. I nearly went, too, but I couldn't do that to Daryl. I knew that he would come back for me and there wouldn't be enough time for us to get to the cars. I would be responsible for his death.

I stared at them in a daze as they did everything in their power to smash the window. T-Dog tried a chair. Shane even tried a bullet. The glass was bulletproof. We were all doomed to die. Daryl's efforts to save me would have gone to waste. I would get what I wanted.

Carol called to Rick and handed him something. In my daze, nothing was real to me. It appeared that she gave him a granade but what was real anymore? Reallity and fiction were mixing into one. The only way I could tell that this was real was the sound. The blast was too loud for enjoyment. Some of the noise was blocked when Daryl threw himself over me. I still was at a loss for hearing from the granade.

Once the glass finally fell, everyone made their way as quickly as possible out of the building. Daryl pulled my body along like a little girl pulling her doll. He wasn't at all gentle. That could have been from the fact that the building was a ticking time bomb and my pace wasn't fast enough for him.

There were walkers outside that knew we were around as soon as we stepped out. The granade blast lead a few of them to our position. The building blowing would draw even more. Knowing of the damage already done, Rick and Shane shot at the few walkers in that were in the group's path. Daryl even released my hand for a split second to knock one's head off with the swing of his crossbow.

Daryl again grabbed my hand and pulled me to his truck. He pushed me in the passenger side and slammed the door. It was now only a matter of seconds before the blast were to go off. Daryl threw all of our belongings in the track bed and climbed in the driver's seat. He started the truck and was ready to go when something emerged from the CDC. I didn't get a long enough look at what it was because Daryl pushed me down and placed his body over mine. He knew that the blast was coming.

The earsplitting noise made me cry out. It was many decibles louder then the granade and burned my ears. The heat from the fire was making my skin melt. The explosion took down the entire CDC in seconds and jolted the cars back.

When the noise calmed, Daryl lifted himself off of me. "You can get up." Hesistantly, I looked around. I could see Dale and Andrea infront of the RV. They were the ones that made it out. My body was shaking. There was no way to control it. Every walker in the city was now headed our way. "You alright?" All I could do was nod. It was hard to tell if that was the truth or not. Was I really okay or was I just in shock?

He started to drive away with the convoy of cars. Shane was the only one behind us. The road was bumpy but I managed to stay quiet. Daryl didn't feel the need to break the silence either. It was a long road ahead but cut short when the RV pulled over. We were far enough from the city to not be in danger. Daryl tried to convince me to get out and join everyone but without speaking, I refused. All I could do was stare off into space.

I watched out the front window as the group debated our next move. The discussion was heated as Shane was pushing Fort Benning, most likely. Rick didn't like it. It was written all over his face. It seemed to go this way for hours. The group finally dispersed into their designated vehicles.

Daryl hopped in the driver's side and brought the car back to life. "Fort Bennin' it is." He awaited my response but I remained silent. What could I say? Leave me here to die? That worked so well back at the CDC.

Endless road. That's all we saw. Heard nothing. Neither of us would speak. It was a bit of a silent deal. I wouldn't bitch about him making me leave and he wouldn't have to explain why he protected me. Well I guess that deal was only in my mind because Daryl broke the silence. "You want to go to Fort Bennin'?"

That's when I finally broke. Everything in me had snapped. I couldn't help myself. Tears broke the barrier and were endless streams down my face. "You son of a bitch! How dare you do this to me? I was going to die! Why couldn't you just let me die?" I started hitting him in his arm. There wasn't much force behind each punch but I prayed that it hurt him at least a little. "Now I have to have a kid in the most screwed up world! This is all your fault! You saved me! Why would you do something so God damn stupid? Now this kid is gonna put us all in danger, you ass!"

"Do you hear yourself!" My arms stopped. "This ain't my fault. You screwed Merle. That means this shit is your fault. Don't blame me for your stupid ass mistake. Now you have to live with it."

"That's just it! I don't want to live with it." He took his eyes off the road to look into mine. "This world isn't meant for a baby. It's not meant for me and I'm not meant for it. I just want to go home." I closed my eyes and soaked in all of my self pity. I was ready to jump out of the car when Daryl wrapped his arm around me. He pulled me close to his chest and allowed me to weep. To my own surprise, I took easily to it. It felt natural.

"This is your home. Please don' leave your home." He ended with that. I could think of nothing to say in response. Maybe that was what he was hoping for. Without trying, I fell asleep in his grasp, pleading to never wake up. Daryl's words confussed me further. Not waking would solve everything. I would no longer be confused about this baby, this world, or Daryl.


	14. Chapter 14

The car haulted. My eyes opened with alert. It turned out that we were stopping for the night. Daryl pulled away, knowing that I had awoken. I had done the one thing I begged not to do. I didn't want to continue this nightmare any longer. Even with Daryl's help, this life is over for me. There is no way my baby or me is going to survive this world.

Daryl forced me out of my seat. "You're bunkin' with me. I ain't gonna let you go sneakin' off into the woods or sumthin' stupid." I was basically under Daryl's command. Whatever he said, went. This was the only thing I could do to not make my condition more obvious. Daryl promised to keep my secret as long as I listened to him and not do anything that could harm myself or the baby.

He set up everything for me. He was treating me like I was going to shatter into tiny little pieces if he wasn't gentle. He was acting like I was due any day. It was making me slightly scared. Daryl wasn't the type of man to drop everything to help a person he hardly knows. That was another thing that bothered me. I hardly knew him and he hardly knew me. Daryl was treating me like his girlfriend, or worse, wife.

Everyone set up camp for the night. Daryl set our tent far enough away from everyone else. It was private, somthing I needed. Daryl's tent was big enough that when we layed down for sleep, we didn't touch. There was personal space and I liked that. Daryl wasn't much of a talker, but my pregnancy was a topic he refused to drop. "So when are ya gonna tell ev'ryone?"

"When I figure out what I'm gonna do." I haven't quite made all of the plans yet. There was so much to think about and I was running low on time.

"What is there to figure out?" I turned towards Daryl. He was lying on his side with his head supported by his hand, looking at me.

"What do you mean 'What is there to figure out'? I don't know if I want a screaming baby around with walkers trying to take chunks out of our skin every two seconds." I was complaining. I knew that, but what other way was there. I can't just brush this off like it's nothing. "It would jeopardize everyone's life, including mine and yours." Oops. I didn't mean for that last part to slip.

"Mine? What are ya worried 'bout mine for?" I couldn't answer. All I did was turn over, trying to forget that he was there. It wasn't possible but it was worth a try. "Rose?" He called me by a nickname. I always hated when people called me Rose. I despised anyone who called me by that name. Not Daryl. The way he said it was perfect. It made me turn around to look at him. It was as if the name was only meant for him to call. "Why ya worried about me?"

"I... I don't know. I just am." Lies. All lies. I didn't want anything to happen to the only person in this world that gives a damn about me.

Instead of repeating his question again, he chose another. "Are ya gonna keep it?"

"What choice do I have? It's either die so the baby isn't born, have someone punch me in the stomach, or give birth to it. And I know that no one would do the second one even if I begged and theres no chance in hell you'll allow me to take the first option. That leaves me with only one choice and that's to have the damn thing." A tear fell down from the corner of my eye. Before another was able to fall, Daryl wiped the first away.

"Don't worry about raising it on your own." His eyes left mine. For some reason, the words he was about to say were difficult to even think. "I'll help ya."

"You'll what?" His offering was unexpected. He didn't seem like the kind of man who would want to be near a kid let alone help raise one, one that wasn't his to raise.

"I'm gonna be its uncle. It's my job." Daryl brought his blue eyes back to mine. His job? I don't think those were the words he was looking for. It sounded as if he felt obligated to take care of his brother's kid. It wasn't a choice. I couldn't make him do that though. He didn't deserve to share in my pain. I already caused this man enough.

"No, it's not. It's mine."

"No. I know what you're thinking but I wanna help. This child could be our last ounce of hope we got left." He was falling to his knees, begging without even moving.

I sighed loudly. I still couldn't assure the child's survival but its chances were much higher with Daryl around. "I... uh... okay. Let's do this." No more tears. No more self pity. Daryl and I are going to get through this together, even if we aren't actually together. There was a second of pure joy in his face. I was glad to make someone happy. "We'll.. uh.. tell them tomorrow before heading out."

"That sounds perfect." I was close to turning back around for some much needed sleep, when Daryl stopped me. He cupped his hand around my cheek and pulled me to him. His lips brushed against mine. Instictively, I wraped my arms around his neck and pulled him close to me. Our chests touched as I deepened the kiss. I could tell he wanted to pull away at first, not expecting this, but gave in and rolled on top of me. He kissed my neck as I ran my hands up and down his back. Wait. This was a bad idea and it's got to be stopped before it went any farther.

"Daryl." He continued to kiss my neck. I lightly put my hands on his chest and pushed him only enough for him to stop. "I can't do this. This is how I ended up in this situation." He was embarrassed. Daryl plopped back down on his side.

"I'm sorry." He started to turn over when I placed my hand on his shoulder.

"No, I mean I want to, I really do. But this isn't the time," I explained as calmly as I possibly could. "A relationship would make things so much more complicated then it already is for me. It would just be better if we stayed friends, at least for a while. Right now, that's all I need, a friend."

He nodded. He new exactly what I meant and accepted it. That was a relief. The time I decide to grow up, I found someone who actually likes me but I can't have him because I was having a kid. Just my luck. Before turning over for the night, he whispered, "I meant what I said. I ain't gonna take that back because this didn' happen."

"I know." Thank God for Daryl Dixon. My feelings were mixed but one things for sure. Daryl was going to be in my life for a long time. Somehow, someway, he was going to be there.


	15. Chapter 15

Daryl was gone by the time that I had woken up. Today was the day I was going to reveal my secret to the group. My heart was pounding. How was I going to do this? I couldn't just bring everyone in a circle and flat out say it.

I changed my clothes and headed outside to find Daryl talking to Rick. I caught his eye and he called me over to join the conversation. Reluctantly, I walked over to the two men. "Hey, guys. What's up?"

I knew what Daryl called me over for, but I wasn't ready. He knew that. He also knew that if I didn't tell someone else now, then someone will figure it out. That person will accuse me of hidding things and it could get ugly. Daryl raised his hand towards Rick, telling me to tell him, without saying a word.

Rick looked at the two of us, confused. He knew that something was up. "Everything okay?"

Daryl looked down at me. He raised his eyebrows, letting me know that if I didn't say it, he would. I couldn't delay it much longer. I needed to tell Rick. At least that it was just Rick. It I had to say it infront of the entire group, I would die. Figuratively of course, but still.

My eyes never left the ground. "I'm pregnant." My voice was very low. Daryl was the only one who was able to hear my mumble. He damanded that I say it louder. I repeated myself only a decibal or two louder. This time, Rick heard. He was shocked and wasn't sure what to say to my breaking news.

Daryl looked over to Rick, wanting to know what to do. His gaze alone told Rick that he didn't know a positive solution to my "problem."

Rick had a sudden realization. In Rick's eyes, a baby was the perfect thing to bring everything back to normal. It was a chance to start over in this new world. He smiled and pulled me close to him. He hugged me tightly, clearly excited for the new addition to our small cluster of people. "Congradualtions," he whispered to me, not wanting to let the others know yet.

My face showed clear confusion. How could he be so excited over something that could put us all in danger? Rick couldn't understand why I looked at him the way I did. He could see, however, that I was scared shitless.

"Are you gonna keep it?" Rick's question caught me off guard.

"Daryl hasn't given me much of a choice." Daryl's weight shifted uncomfortably. He didn't appreciate that I put all of the blame on him. I guess it did make him sound like a total asshole.

Rick looked at Daryl who was starring me down due to my previous remark. Rick placed his hand on my shoulder, blocked Daryl from view. "What do you want?" I wanted to die, but that wasn't an option anymore.

"I honestly don't know." My eyes never met his. I would not be able to bear the judgement that I knew was in his eyes. "If I keep it, the group will be in more danger and we would have to hunt for baby formula. If I decide to get rid of it, I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive myself."

"Hey, look at me, Rosalyn." I was hesitant, but I obeyed. "Don't worry about danger. Everyone here will be careful. They can take care of themselves. What you gotta worry about is the life that this child will bring. It will bring hope to everyone. We will all work to bring your child happiness and health. All it will need is the love of its mother. That is how the child will survive in this world."

Tears began running rampid down my cheeks. "What if I don't survive? Whether it be in childbirth or bitten by a walker. What happens to my child if it doesn't have a protective, loving mother?" That was my real fear. The chances of me surviving were slim to none. If this child needs a mother, I won't be there.

"You can't think like that." Rick voice was stern. He wasn't going to allow me to think so negatively. "You are going to survive. Now there's more at stake. You will fight harder and you will win."

I was close to going over the edge and nearly screamed. The only thing holding from doing so was the fact that I didn't want everyone's attention. They didn't yet need to know my secret. Rick knowing was enough for one morning. I tried to keep my voice down as I continued to express concern. "What happens if I don't win?"

Rick was well aware he wasn't going to jump over the question. "Then we will take care of it." Shocked, I brought my gaze to his light blue eyes. "You have my word."

My arms wrapped around his neck. I was on the tips of my toes because Rick was much taller then I was. Sobbing into his shirt, I whispered, "Thank you."

After I had released him, Rick nodded and walked over to his wife. He was more then likely telling her of the situation. I wasn't able to watch or listen in because Daryl grabbed my arm, swinging me around to face him. "So you gonna keep it?" He was genuanly concerned for the baby's and my well being.

Taking in as much air as my lungs would allow and releasing it slowly, I looked into his eyes and told of the decision that I had made. "Yeah. But, you gotta keep your promise or this isn't gonna work." I pointed my finger at him, asserting my control. He was to listen and do what I needed to make this work.

Daryl smirked at my attempt to be supreme. I guess it was hard to realize that I was in control with tear marks staining my face. "Alright. I got ya in this." He wrapped his right arm around me, pulling me close into a final hug before packing up everything for our next move.

Daryl had all of our belongings in his truck before anyone else in the group was remotely close to finishing. His crossbow was slung over his shoulder as he walked back over to me. I was standing awkwardly alone. "You're riddin' with me." This wasn't a question. He was demanding. There was nothing that I could do, so why bother arguing.

Once everyone was finally packed from our one night at this small, makeshift camp, it was time to move out. I sat in the passenger's seat with Daryl. He turned the key, without sayiing a word, and tried to bring the truck to life, but there was nothing. He tried again and again, but it was dead. The truck was out of gas and seemed to be running on fumes to some time now. This pissed Daryl off, but he didn't seemed too surpirsed. He hit the steering wheel. "Dammit," he mummbled. "Looks like we're takin' down the bike." He opened his door and got out. He motioned for me to do the same.

I exited and Daryl tossed me two bags of my stuff and told me to put it in the RV. I did as I was told. Dale was waiting at the door when I brought two more handfuls of bags. By the time I brought the last one with all of Daryl's essentials, Glenn grabbed them and threw them in the back with the rest. Before I could return to Daryl, who had finished getting the bike down with T-Dog's assistance, Glenn grabbed my arm and stopped me. "Hey," he whispered. "Congradulations."

"Um, thanks." Jesus, did everyone know already? I only told Rick about an hour ago.

"If you need anything, just ask. I'll go to town or whatever." Glenn was only trying to help. He wanted to make this process as comfortable as possible. That was really sweet.

I tried to hide my anger with Rick and told Glenn, "thanks." I gave him a short hug before walking back over to Daryl. He knew right away that something was wrong.

"Why do you look do pissed off?" He was sitting on his motorcycle, waiting for me to join him.

I sat down and wrapped my arms tightly around him. I put my mouth to his ear. "Everyone knows." While backing away, I heard him laugh.

"Who cares? They're all gonna find out sooner or later." Daryl started the bike and ended the conversation. He was right. I just wanted them to find out later rather then sooner.

Daryl and I lead the group down the deserted highway. Our next destination, Fort Benning.


	16. Chapter 16

The wind was blocked by Daryl's body. My arms were around his stomach and my head was on his back as he sped down the highway. I couldn't help but imagining that in a few months, I won't be able to do this. My stomach wouldn't allow me to wrap my arms around Daryl's waist as he reached maximum speeds. It would be too dangerous.

Even after the child was born, I couldn't risk it. Even though there are never any cars on the road, we could still crash. There's always that possibility. Most of the time when the crash involves a motorcycle, it doesn't end well fo the people who were on it. Now that I was having one, I needed to start thinking about what something like that would do to him or her.

Another thing that came across my mind was what were we going to do when it's born? We can't just be running around with a crying baby. No, its screams will attract walkers and put us all in danger.

I was suddenly brought out of my thinking when I heard Daryl curse infront of me. "Son of a bitch." We were slowing down and I could see what all the fuss was about. Cars were toppled over, blocking the caravan from moving forward. Daryl turned around and moved towards the haulted RV.

Dale looked out of his window and down at Daryl. "See a way through." Daryl nodded and motioned Dale to follow.

Daryl slowly drove around the cars, trying not to hit one. There was plenty of room for the two of us to get by, but not the RV. It was a tight squeeze for that hunk of junk.

While driving by, I looked at the abandon vehicles on the road. A lot of people left in a hurry. Some didn't leave at all. A few cars had dead bodies in them. These people weren't walkers, just dead. My stomach churned and I wanted to throw up. It was a pretty nasty thought of people getting eaten alive and had no way of stopping it.

Suddenly a strange, squeeking sound was coming from the RV. I turned and saw smoke coming from the hood. I tapped Daryl on the shoulder. He turned around and saw the smoke too. He stopped the motorcycle and motioned me to get off.

The two of us met up with the rest of the group. They were huddeled around the hood as Dale complained about the RV. "I said it. Didn't I say it? A thousand times. Dead in the water."

Shane wanted to be sarcastic. "Problem, Dale?"

"Just a small matter of being stuck in the the middle of nowhere with no hope of-" He stopped as Daryl moved passed me to a broken down car. He reached in the back and started to look at the items that were left behind. "Okay, that was dumb."

Shane looked around at the surroundings. "If you can't find a radiator hose here..."

I peered over Daryl's shoulder, looking at the stuff he was picking through. "There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find," he commented.

T-Dog liked the idea. "I can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start."

Carol was holding her daughter close. "Maybe some water." That would be perfect. I was dying of thirst.

"Or food." Glenn's mention of food made my stomach growl. This place was a goldmine.

"This is a graveyard." There Lori goes, brining everyone's happiness down. That woman had a nasty habit of doing such thing. "I don't know how I feel about this."

T-Dog ignored her. He went back to the RV and grabbed the gas cans. He wanted to get as much fuel as possible and he didn't have time to stand around.

Shane wasn't in the mood to debate this either. "C'mon, y'all. Just look around, gather what you can." No one gave it another thought. Everyone, except Lori, went to work.

I ventured over to a green car with its windows rolled down. There was really nothing in it, but some pointless things people left behind. One thing did stick out, though. A gold chain sparkled in the sunlight. There wasn't a pendent attached, but I didn't care. I didn't think I would find any jewlery anymore. I picked it up and wathed it twinkle in the light.

"Whatchu got there?" Daryl asked comming up behind me.

"Would it be wrong if I took this?" I was so tempted to put it on my neck right there. The only thing that stopped me was the thought of this being someone's. A man could have given this to the woman he loved and that was all that was left. Was it a bad thing to want this beautiful thing?

"You should be lookin' for important things." I dropped my shoulders. Daryl was right. This wasn't something I needed.

I put it back where I found it. Daryl's hand was on my shoulder instantly. "I didn't say ya couldn't keep it." Daryl's words brought a smile to my face. It was a wonderful feeling that I could have something from the old world. I quickly clipped it around my neck and stared down at its beauty. I had one like this before the world went to hell, but my ex snapped it off my neck during a huge fight.

Once it was placed perfectly on my neck, I followed Daryl to the next car. He was looking in the trunk, so I decided that I would take the interior. I opened the back door and before I had a chance to head inside, I saw blood. I followed the trail with my eyes and saw that it lead to a carseat.

I jumped back and started to cry, silently. Was this the fate of my child? All of my fears were suddenly coming at me at once. I backed up until I ran into the gaurd rail.

Daryl seen my distress and hurried over to me. "What's wrong?" Without speaking, I pointed to the car. He raised his crossbow and took slow steps. After seeing the blood for himself, he dropped his weapon and huffed. He knew exactly why tears were falling from my eyes. "That ain't gonna happen. We ain't gonna let it."

He slammed the door shut and walked to me. He handed me his red hankercheif to dry my eyes. I took it happily. "Thanks," I whispered. I needed to pull myself together. I handed it back and he carried on.

T-Dog had asked Daryl for help with siphoning. Daryl agreed and started opening the gas tanks for him.

I continued to look through cars, not finding much. I did find a lot of baby stuff. This was becoming a nightmare. Everywhere I looked, there it was. It was unaviodable. Some of it was nice, new. Others were old and crapped out. Eventually we were going to need to start figuring out what we were going to need, but not yet. It was too early.

Suddenly, I heard Rick approach Lori and Carol. I wasn't too far away from them. I wanted to keep people in my sight incase something went wrong. That was a smart thing to do, I guess. "Lori, under the cars," Rick called to his wife.


	17. Chapter 17

Rolling under a car wasn't ideal. I hated being on the ground. It was dirty, gross, and filled with oil from these abandoned cars. The only reason I went down was the fact that tons of walkers were headed our way. There was no way we could take so many on. This was the best and smartest way of surviving.

My stomach was flat on the ground as I watched the feet of the slow moving walkers pass by. A rock or two was stabbing my side, but I didn't dare move. If one of those things saw me, I was screwed. I had nowhere to go.

About fifty feet away, I could see the feet of T-Dog. He was staggering to the ground and blood was spilling from somewhere on his body. I forced my hands over my mouth, trying to prevent any sound to escape. I prayed that one of things didn't get T-Dog.

I closed my eyes so I wouldn't see what happened next. The last thing I needed to see was T-Dog being eaten alive. My thoughts and dreams were already haunted enough.

The sounds of feet dragging on the ground was starting to slow down. By the sounds, I could tell there were still a few lagging behind, but they soon joined the rest. I refused to open my eyes to make sure. I was like a scared child when it came to those sick bastards.

Silence soon flooded the area. There was nothing calming about it, though. When it went silent, something bad disturbs it. It was the one thing I hated more than walkers. Silence was the devil in this world. The walkers were just its minions.

As every other time, the silence disappeared. It was chased away by the sounds of screaming. Right away it was easy to tell that it was Sophia. The cries were definately a little girl's.

My eyes stayed closed and I remained in my position. I knew Rick or Shane would go after the girl, so I didn't feel the need to move. I didn't know if there were anymore of those things out there and I didn't want to find out.

"C'mon. They're gone." Daryl sounded frustrated. His hand grabbed my arm and he helped me get up from under the car.

T-Dog was leaning against the car next to Daryl. His arm was still bleeding and his shirt was covered in red. It didn't look like he was bit, but was cut. Daryl helped him to the RV where Dale patched him up.

It wasn't long before Rick came back from the woods. The only problem was the girl wasn't with him. "She's not back?" Rick questioned the rest of us.

"What do you mean she's not back? Where's my daughter?" Carol's words started the slur. She was crying more heavily now.

"I had to lead the walkers away. Told her to run back here." His eyes told the truth. He did everything he could. Rick looked as if he was at the brink of crying.

"C'mon. Show me where ya left her." Daryl volunteered to help, much to my surprise. He did mention once that he tracked deer and other animals all of the time. I guess if anyone could find her, it was Daryl Dixon.

Shane and Glenn went along with Daryl and Rick to find the girl. The rest of us stayed and searched more cars. Well, I did. Lori was comforting Carol, Andrea was off doing God-knows-what, and Dale was fixing up T-Dog. Carl was the only one looking through cars with me. He didn't say anything, though. By the looks on his face, he was worried about his father and his friend.

Eventually, Glenn and Shane came back up. Carol asked about Sophia, but Shane told her that Rick and Daryl were handeling it. He then told the rest of us that we needed to move the cars so we can turn around later.

Dale worked on the RV. By the noises it was making, it wasn't sounding too great. That hunk of junk was started to become more of a pain in the ass than anything. I had to give Dale credit through. He stuck with that thing and treated it everytime it broke down.

Carol stayed by the guard rail, watching the woods. I couldn't imagine what that woman was going through. Losing a child must be the hardest thing a parent could go through. She wanted to go out and look for herself, but it was too dangerous. She would probably be tripping over herself.

I couldn't help but put my hand tp my stomach. This was another fear that I would have, losing my child. The list kept getting longer. My fears were starting to get to me. Why didn't he just let me die when I wanted? This suffering wasn't worth it. It just wasn't.

A sound of a car being started brought my attention, and a few others', to Shane and Lori. We gathered to the car where the radio was speaking the crap that we heard a few months ago.

"Is that a local signel?" Glenn asked. He sounded hopeful. I hate to break it to him, but this was a recording the played over and over again. They probably left it on before they either got eaten or they ditched. Whatever it was, those radio people were long gone now.

Even though he knew the same thing, Dale answered Glenn's question. "It's got to be within fifty miles of here."

Shane knew that it was bull. He turned it off and huffed, "Asshole," to the radio. "Okay, let's get back to work."

We spent hours going through cars and gathering supplies. We had a pretty descent pile going of canned goods, water, bags, whatever we could find. I even saw Carl found a thing of sharp objects that we could use to kill walkers. This place had everything.

I was taking a break, leaning against the RV and drinking water, as the sun was going down. The pink was so beautiful. It was hard to believe that there was still beauty in this world.

My eyes soon went away from the sky and saw Daryl and Rick emerge from the forest. I went with everyone and rushed to the guard rail. Carol began to panic when she didn't see Sophia along with them.

"Her trail went cold," Rick explained. "We'll pick it up again at first light."

Lori was again comforting the woman. "You can't leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night alone in the woods."

"Out in the dark's no good." Daryl kept his voice low and soft, a voice that fit him. It was a hell of a lot better than his screeming voice that we all had come to know. "We'd just be trippin' over ourselves. More people'd get lost."

"But she's twelve. She can't be out there on her own. You didn't find anything?" Carol's face was turning red.

Rick tried to calm her. "I know this is hard. But I'm asking you not to panic. We know she was out there."

Daryl took a step forward. "And we tracked her for a while."

"We have to make this an organized effort. Daryl knows the woods better than anybody. I asked him to oversee this." Rick was starting to become desperate. He could see the disappointment in every person's eyes.

"Is that blood?" My eyes instantly went over to where Carol was pointing. There was huge blood stain on Daryl's pants. I took a few steps forward to get a better look.

The woman started the breathe heavily. All Rick could do was tell her the truth. "We took down a walker."

"Walker? Oh, my God." That just caused the scared mother more panic.

"There was no sign it was ever anywhere near Sophia." That made no sense.

"How can you know that?" Andrea asked. I shared her confusion.

Rick didn't answer. He didn't know how. Daryl took the lead. "We cut the sumbitch open, made sure." His answer nearly made me gag. Cutting a dead decaying body open and dig through the stomach was the most disgusting thing I had ever heard. Daryl wasn't aloud near me until he changed. If I took a few more steps closer, I was sure that I would smell death on him.

Daryl's answer nearly caused Carol to faint. She had to sit on the rail to catch her breath. Lori sat with her. She looked to Rick. "How could you just leave her out there to begin with? How could you just leave her?" Carol blamed Rick for Sophia's disappearence. I could see where she was coming from. If I was in her position, I would most likely do the same.

Rick kneeled down to Carol's level, trying everything to explain. "Those two walkers were on us. I had to draw tham off. It was her best chance."

Shane sided with his best friend. "Sounds like he didn't have a choice, Carol."

"How was she supposed to find her way back on her own? She's just a child. She's just a child." A tear started to build in my eye. I symphasized with the woman. Her only child was lost and so far isn't found.

"It was my only option. The only choice I could make." I also felt sorry for Rick as I listened to his voice shake. He tried, but let Carol down. She wouldn't listen to him. She was too worried about Sophia.

Rick stood up and walked off to be alone. He blamed himself for the girl. He wished there was something he could do to take it all back. The man did everything in his power to save that girl and he was blamed for it all.

I walked to the very edge of the highway and offered my hand to Daryl. He took it and I helped him over. I knew he didn't need it, but he still appreciated it.

We walked away from Andrea and Lori as they held Carol. The women needed their space. I didn't know Carol too well, so I didn't think I was fit to stay with her.

Once Daryl and I were alone, he tried to give me a hug. I guess he could see the distress in my eyes. I pushed him away though. "Not until you change." I pointed to the stain on his pants. "I could smell that shit from a mile away."

He laughed at me. I guess I shouldn't have told him that because he reached out for me. His arms were around me and I couldn't budge them. He couldn't stop laughing at my struggle.

"Get off me," I begged. I couldn't help but to smile and laugh myself. He was trying to make the best of a bad situation and it was working. When he finally released me, I pushed him as hard as I could. It didn't do anything but make him laugh at me more. The smile was plastered on my face as I walked away from him. "Asshole," I whispered as I walked away.

"I heard that." Daryl called to me.

I turned my head back to him, but I kept walking. "You were meant to."


	18. Chapter 18

"You ain't goin'."

"To hell I'm not." I was starting to have enough of Daryl's control issues. I hate it how he's starting to think he owns me because he's helping me.

"You ain't goin'. It's too dangerous. You can't even protect yourself." He started to walk away. If he thinks this converstaion is over, he's dead wrong.

I chased after him. "You can't keep me here."

One of his eyebrows raised at the challenge. "Oh yeah?" He made his way over to Rick.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Daryl ignored me. "Hey, Rick. Do ya think Rose should stay here? In her condition?" Rose? No one has ever called me Rose before. I always prefered Rosalyn. Not a single person even suggested a nickname before.

Rick looked at me, confused. He seemed to know what was going on, but he spoke his mind. "Rosalyn, I think it might be best if you stay with Dale and T-Dog. We wouldn't want you to get hurt out there."

"You have got to be kidding me." The fury that burned in my stomach made me want to punch that damn redneck in the face. A part of me wished I did. Maybe it would have told him to back off. But I chose not to and walk away. I did, however mumble a 'screw you' to Daryl as I brushed past him.

The rest of the group were gathered around the car next to the RV. I hung around to the back against the RV. Even though I wasn't going with them, I still wanted to know what they were going to be doing.

Rick rolled out a pack of sharp objects. It was the one that Carl found. There were plenty of knives for everyone to have one instead of their guns. They were better weapons to use due to their silence. Some people didn't see it that way though.

"These aren't the kind of weapons we need," Andrea remarked. "What about the guns?"

"We've been over that," Shane called to her. He looked up from his hat in his hand. "Daryl, Rick, and I are carrying. We can't have people popping off rounds every time a tree rustles."

"It's not the trees I'm worried about."

Shane was becoming aggrivated with her Andrea's additude. "Say someboody fires at the wrong moment, a herd happens to be passing by. See, then it's game over for all of us. So you need to get over it."

Once she finally excepted that guns were not an option, Daryl explained his plan. "The idea is to take the creek up about five miles, turn around and come back down the other side. Chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark."

"Stay quiet and stay sharp. Keep space between you but always stay with sight of each other," Rick added.

As Rick requested that Dale keep on the repairs, I walked back over to Daryl. I was still pretty pissed off at him, but I didn't want 'screw you' be the last words I said to him. It was more of a 'just in case' type of thing.

He was packing up a bag when I reached him. "Hey."

Daryl just looked up at me, surprised that I said anything at all to him. He awaited me to add on to the conversation.

"So you sure you want me to stay here, then?"

He swung his pack onto his back as he responded. "Yeah, I am."

I sighed, hoping that he would have changed his mind about the whole matter. "Alright, I'll stay. But I swear if something happens to you or me, I'm blaming you."

A small grin crept onto his face. "Yeah, I know."

The two of us started to walk back to the rest of the group. "Oh and I'm sorry about the 'screw you.' I didn't mean it."

"It ain't the first time someone said that to me and it's sure as hell won't be the last."

The rest of the group was preparing to look for the girl when Andrea and Dale's conversation was becoming increasingly loud. She was complaining about how he took her choice of death away and how she wanted to die. I just didn't pay any attention. That wasn't my buisness and I didn't want to make it my buisness. My days of drama were over.

Andrea eventually stormed off and the group followed. Daryl ran back for one final so long. "Be careful, please," I called as he took his place in the front with Rick.

It was only Dale, T-Dog, and me. Dale went into the RV. It seemed he wanted to be alone after the fight he had just had with Andrea. T-Dog stayed in his place, leaning against the RV. A blue pack was wraped around his arm to prevent more bleeding and infection. I walked up to the top of the RV. I figured since I was here, I might as well keep watch.

The hours passed as the sun beat down on my skin. Dale eventually joined me. He pulled out his binoculars and watched for anymore herds.

T-Dog was still on the ground. He didn't have the strength to join us on the roof. He called to Dale. "Ain't you supposed to be fixing that radiator? What if they come back with Sophia and Rick wants to move on right away?"

He was supposed to be fixing something on this old RV. I turned to Dale, wondering why he was up here when he should be down there working on this damn thing.

Dale looked at T-Dog and me. "I had it fixed yesterday," he admitted.

"What?" the two of us asked at the same time.

T-Dog pointed to the RV engine with his bad arm. "What was all that rubbing and sanding for then? That just bullshit?"

"Yeah, that's one word. Another word would be pantomime - just for show. No one else needs to know that."

I looked up to the older man. "You got it."

"Pantomime," T-Dog repeated.

"If the others know we're mobile, they'll wanna mobilize and move on." Dale looked across the highway, checking for dangers.

"So you don't think they're gonna find Sophia, that it?" T-Dog questioned.

"I'm just guarding against the worst."

"I don't blame you," I told Dale, siding with him. You never know what's going to happen. It's best to just prepare for the worst.

"Sooner or later, if she's not found, people will start doing math. I want to hold off the needs-of-the-many-versus-the-needs-of-the-few arguments as long as I can." He was right. Those arguments were soon coming. It'd be better to hold off on those at least for sometime.

"That is one tricky hose, huh?" T-Dog joked.

"Very," Dale responded.

It was then silent again. T-Dog went inside the RV, hoping to cool down. I stayed on the top of the RV with Dale. We kept watch together. I sat on the edge with my feet hanging over. I kicked them as I waited for the rest of our group to return.

Dale kneeled next to me. "How are you doing, Rosalyn?"

I huffed. I knew exactly why he was asking. "You know too, huh?"

"Yeah. Rick filled me in." He sat down beside me, not seeing any immediate dangers headed our way. "There's nothing wrong with it."

"Everyone knows, don't they?" I tried to ignore his last statement. There was plenty wrong with it.

"Yeah, mostly."

I tisked. "Perfect." I knew they were all going to figure it out sooner or later, but I didn't think they would all know already. I guess news travels fast when your group is small.

Dale tried to comfort me and try to make conversation. I could tell he was just curious and wanted to make me feel better, but I just couldn't stop thinking about the group and the future. That is until Dale asked the question that I'm sure is on everyone's mind. "So what's going on with you and Daryl."

I kept my eyes straight ahead, staring at the forest. "He's just a friend. He's just trying to help."

Dale shared his observation with me. "Well, whatever it is you two got going on, it's changing him. He's not as explosive as he once was. Still be careful around him, though. You never know if he's gonna change back. I don't want you standing there if that happens."

I smiled at the man. "Don't worry, Dale. I got it all under control. I can handle Daryl. Thanks for your concern though. I really do appreciate it."

The hours began to drag. The sun's rays were lowering, meaning the group would be back soon. Them being back right before sun down would mean they didn't find her. I felt horrible that the little girl was being put through so much hell. The entire group was as well. Carol's daughter was only so young. I hated to think about it, but the chances of her still being alive was very slim. Being alone out there without any exprience was deadly.

A quiet pop was heard in the distance. It brought me out of my thoughts about the little girl and her chances. The pop could have been a gunshot, but it echoed through the forest so I couldn't pinpoint the location. Besides, why would our group take one shot at anyway? If there was only one walker, they would take it out silently. That's what those sharp objects were for.

Maybe I was making myself crazy. I was doing too much thinking these days. Maybe my mind was starting to tell me to stop and calm down for a second. Maybe that was a sign to take a breath and enjoy life. Maybe it was nothing.


	19. Chapter 19

Dale eventually went down off the RV to look for car parts. I didn't stay up top for long either. It was too hot and too lonely. I joined Dale to help him out. We spent more time taking a bunch of parts than looking for anything usefull in the cars themselves.

T-Dog soon joined us. "We are gonna have quite a collection of spare parts, I tell ya." Dale was cleaning his wrench as he spoke.

"Shouldn't they be back by now?" I was with T-Dog on this. They were taking too long.

"It's still light," Dale told him. "Let's not worry just yet. How are you feeling?" I could see why Dale asked. T-Dog was very sweaty and seemed to be stumbling a little.

When T-Dog didn't answer, Dale and I dropped whatever was in our hands and walked over to the large man. "T-Dog?" Dale called. "I asked you how you were feeling just now. Please don't blow that question off."

"It really, really hurts." He shifted as he spoke. "It's throbbing something awful."

I placed myself next to T-Dog's injured arm, while Dale gently grabbed ahold of it, to get a good look myself. He peeled back the soft tissue and observed. There was still some blood, but it looked as if puss was starting to form. I gasped slightly to myself. That was a site that I probably should have shied away from.

Dale slowly put the tissue back, but T-Dog still jumped in pain. "Ah! Dont, don't touch it!" He slowly leaned back against a car and tried to catch his breath.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Dale appologized. "Listen, your veins are very discolored. You got a hell of an infection there. You could die from blood poisoning." My eyes shot to Dale's face. Die? No, not T-dog. He was so sweet. He didn't deserve to die like this.

He managed to find some humor in it however. "Oh, man. Wouldn't that be the way? World gone to hell, the dead risen up to eat the living and Theodoer Douglas gets done in by a cut on his arm." I was more suprised to hear his real name than anything. It was odd hearing it said like that.

Dale ignored that though. "Yeah, that'd be stupid," he told him seriously. "I've been saying since yesterday, we've got to get you some antibiotics. We've been ransaking these cars the whole time. I can't believe that we have not found some ampicillin or something in the whole place. Can you?"

"If you think of it, that would be the first thing people would take." My eyes shifted to the lot of cars that surrounded us. It is hard to believe we didn't find anything medical at all.

"Seems like there would be." T-Dog started to sway. He really needed to sit down.

"Well that's what I think. Well, we, uh, we haven't been thorough enough. So let's look some more."

"Dale, we should get him back to the RV. Me and you could look." Dale agreed with me. We each took an arm and helped T-Dog back to the steps of the old van. He sat and watched as we searched.

The first car I went to had some kind of over-the-counter medicine. It was better than nothing. I sifted through the glove compartment and even found a pack of cigerettes. Hey, maybe someone smoked. I don't have any use for them. Not now, anyway. A lighter was in there as well. This was our lucky day.

After searching for some time, we met back at the RV. I threw the cigerettes and lighter to T-Dog. He told me thanks and that he needed it. Dale found some batteries, some flavored water, a machete, and a guitar. He thought Glenn would like it.

I pulled the medicine from my pocket and handed it to Dale. I thought it might be better if he had it instead of T-Dog. There was a possibility that he was in so much pain that he would take too much. I may have been over-reacting but it was better to be safe than sorry.

The three of us sat against the RV, relaxing. T-Dog smoked one of the cigerettes, said it made him feel better. Then, he started talking weird. "What are we doing?"

"Pulling supplies together," Dale answered.

T-Dog wasn't pleased with the answer. "No, I mean what are we doing? People off in the woods, they's looking for that poor girl and we're here. Why?"

Dale looked at him and then to me. I knew as much as he did. T-Dog wasn't making any sense.

"'Cause they think we're the weakest." He took another puff of his cigerette then looked back at Dale. "What are you, seventy?"

Dale didn't want to say, but he did anyway. "Sixty-four."

"Uh-huh." He brough his eyes to me. "And you? You ever kill one of those things before? No. You look to innocent to. And I don't think you're able to now," he said pointing to my stomach.

I shifted uncomfortably. This definately wasn't the T-Dog I knew. This guy was just being an ass. I didn't answer him though.

T-Dog rubbed his head. "And I'm the one black guy. Realize how precarious that makes my situation?"

Dale wasn't happy with the way he was talking about us and himself. His voice was slightly louder and angrier as he asked, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about two good-old-boy cowboy sheriffs and a redneck whose brother cut off his own hand because I dropped a key." I was slightly pissed off at the way he was talking about Daryl and even Merle. Daryl was sweet and Merle was the father of my child. If he was smart, he wouldn't be saying that kind of shit infront of me. "Who in that scenario you think is gonna be first to get lynched?"

"You can't be serious right now," I said to the man.

Dale butted in before I could get up and slap some sense into him. "Are we-" T-Dog wasn't paying any attention. "Hey, are we missing something? Those cowboys have done all right by us. And if I'm not mistaken, that redneck went out of his way to save your ass - more than once."

"And don't forget about Andrea," T-Dog added. "Kills her own sister."

"She was already dead." Dale was always one to stick up for Andrea. He thought her and Amy as daughters.

"Then wants to blow herself up." That shocked me more than anything. I was in the same position that she was in. I wanted to leave this world and that seemed like the peaceful way of doing it. But when he puts it like that, I just feel sick. "Yeah, she's all there."

My breathing was picking up. The way he was talking about Andrea was like he was talking about me. He was calling both Andrea and I crazy. It was getting to the point that I would handle this myself. Dale seemed to be making it worse.

"She's having a tough time. What is wrong with you?" Dale didn't appreciate T-Dog's words, either.

"The whole world is having a tough time," T-Dog argued. "Damn, man. Open your eyes." He started to yell and was getting really upset. "Look where we are, stuck in this mess here."

Dale sushed him. His yelling would attract walkers and screw us all over.

T-Dog put his hand on his forehead. "Let's, let's just go. Let's just take the RV."

"And leave the rest here?" I couldn't believe what he was saying. First he insults me and then he wants us to just get up and leave. What the hell is going on with him?

"You've gone off the deep end." Dale rose from his place next to T-Dog.

"I mean it. Why are we on the side of this road like live bait? Let's go, the three of us." He started to pant and sweat was dripping down his head. "Let's go before they get back."

Dale slowly placed his hand on T-Dog's forehead. He seemed to have figured out what was wrong with the man. "Oh, my God. You're burning up." He quickly pulled out the medicine that I had found earlier and handed a few to T-Dog. "We've got to knock that fever down." He stared out into the woods. "Where the hell are they?" he asked desperately.

I got up from my place and stormed to the top of the RV. Tears were flooding my eyes. I couldn't believe I let T-Dog's words get to me, but they did. Was I really crazy? This was all just too much for me to take.

Dale followed me, knowing I was upset. "Hey, don't cry. It's alright."

"No, he's right. I'm going crazy. I wanted to die, just like Andrea. Im so weak." I whipped my tears from my face, but more just kept coming. I wanted so desperately to stop. I needed to stop.

"No, that was the fever talking. That wasn't T-Dog. You're not crazy and you're not weak either. You just have a lot on your mind." Dale slowly rubbed my back, soothing me. "Don't be mad at him. He isn't himself. Come on. Let's get off this roof and out of the sun. That will just make you feel worse."

He didn't allow me time to argue. He grabbed my arm and pulled my down off the top. We walked to the entrance of the RV as my tears started to slow. I turned back to the older man. "Can you not tell Daryl about this?"

The last thing Daryl needed on his plate right now was me thinking I was crazy. He already had enough to deal with. He didn't need to be worrying about me if he found out about this. He didn't need to know how weak I was being.

Dale agreed to not speak of it to anyone. I guess he thought that no one needed to know. I can't say I don't agree.


	20. Chapter 20

"Shot? What do you mean shot?" Dale rushed forward as Glenn, Daryl, Andrea, and Carol came walking up the hill. I followed close behind the old man, wanting to know what the hell Glenn was talking about.

"I don't know, Dale. I wasn't there." Glenn seemed pretty upset. "All I know is this chick rode out of nowhere like Zorro on a horse and took Lori."

"And you let her?" Dale directed that question to Daryl. Daryl didn't appreciate that too much.

"Climb down out of my ass, old man." Daryl brushed passed us as he continued to explain. "Rick sent her. She knew Lori's name and Carl's."

Andrea was the last to hop over the guard rail. "I heard screams. Was that you?" Dale asked her. She didn't answer. It looked like she was still pissed off at him for making her live.

Glenn answered for her. "She got attacked by a walker. It was a close call."

Dale wasn't giving up. "Andrea, are you alright?" Again, no answer. She just opened the door to the RV and got in. She must have been shooken up by that.

I walked over to Daryl as he was putting down his crossbow. "Everything okay?"

"Just fine." He totaly blew me off. This hurt a little, but I shock it off and walked away. He was upset about something and I thought it best not to push him. If he ever wanted to talk about it, he would. Maybe.

Everyone spent some time relaxing from their long day. When he thought the time was right, Dale called us all together. "We have to go meet them."

"I won't do it. We can't just leave." Carol refused to take the chance of leaving. Her daughter was still out there and there was a chance she would find her way back here.

"Carol, the group is split. We're scattered and weak." Dale was determined to reconnect with Rick and the others.

"What if she comes back and we're not here? It could happen." Even though Dale had a point, we couldn't take that chance. That little girl's hope is right here and if we leave, then it's game over for her.

Even Andrea was on Carol's side. "If Sophia found her way back and we were gone, that would be awful." Or maybe she was doing whatever she could to not be on whatever side Dale was. Either way, it sure convinced Daryl.

"Okay. We got to plan for this. I say tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up stake. Give us a chance to rig a big sign, leave her some supplies." I have got to admit, Daryl is smarter than he's given credit for. "I'll hold up here tonight, stay with the RV." And more caring.

"Well, if you're staying, I am too." There was no way in hell I was going to meet these new people without Daryl. I felt safest with him. He was about to say something, but I put up my finger stopping him. "There isn't anything you can say to make me change my mind, so don't even bother."

"If the RV is staying, I am too." Dale didn't let anyone use that RV. That was his. It was very precious to him and he'd be damned if he put it in charge of someone else.

Carol seemed as if she was about to cry. "Thank you."

Andrea raised her hand. "I'm in."

Glenn felt preasured to stay as well. I could tell he didn't want to go there alone either. "Well, if you're all staying then I'm-"

He was cut off by Dale. "Not you, Glenn. You're going. Take Carol's Cherokee."

The boy was confused and a little upset. "Me? Why is it always me?"

Dale raised his hand to try to calm him down and explain. "You have to find this farm, reconnect with our people, and see what's going on. But most important, you have to get T-Dog there. This is not an option. That cut has gone from bad to worse. He has a very serious blood infection. Get him to that farm. See if they have any antibiotics." My eye caught Daryl walking back to his bike as Dale spoke. "Because if not, T-Dog will die, no joke."

Daryl picked up a rag that was hung on the bike. He reached into the bag and pulled out a zip lock bag full of orange bottles. He threw the rag at Dale as he walked back to us. "Keep your oily rags off my brother's motorcycle." He practically slammed the bag onto a hood of one of the cars. "Why'd you wait till now to say anything? Got my brother's stash." He sifted through the bag and named all of the drugs Merle used to take. "Crystal, X. Don't need that. Some kick ass painkillers." Daryl gently tossed those most important pills to Glenn. We all looked at him in shock. He grabbed another bottle and handed it to Dale. "Oxycyline. Not the generic stuff neither. It's first class. Merle got the clap on occasion."

The clap? Who the hell would be stupid enough to sleep with Merle? It's pretty sick that they gave him an STD? I mean, girls are freaking stupid. Oh, wait. I was stupid enough to sleep with Merle. I'm a stupid girl. That's great. At least he didn't give me any STDs. Nope, just knocked me up.

Daryl walked away from us all. Dale looked down at the pill bottle and smiled. Daryl and Merle might have just saved T-Dog's life. Maybe T-Dog will take back that crack about Daryl he made earlier.

As the sun went down, what remained of our group settled into the RV. Carol was in the back bed, crying. Andrea was sitting at the table, trying to put her gun back together properly. Dale was on the top of the RV, keeping watch as always. Daryl was lying on the floor, trying his damnedest to get some shut-eye. And me? Well, I was sitting in the driver's seat, just staring out at the highway ahead.

The darkness of the cars frightened me. You never what what could be hiding behind one of them. You never know when they'll pop out at you. You never know if it will ever happen, but there's always that possibility. The security we once had was long gone. All we do now is lose sleep while wondering when the next one of those things is going to make an aproach.

There's a little girl lost in that darkness. She's surrounded by those monsters with no way of defending herself. She doesn't know, like the rest of us, where the next one is or if it will see her. She has no one to turn to. A twelve-year-old girl is lost and alone in the forest around us and all we can do is look and pray that one of those rotting monsters haven't gotten to her first.

With this on my mind, there was no hope for sleep. My eyes weren't even fighting me. I was wide awake and that wasn't going to change for awhile.

My eyes, however, did change positions when I heard Daryl stir from behind me. "I need my clip now," Daryl said to Andrea.

I turned to see him looking at the blonde woman. He didn't even notice that I was eyeing him as he slid the clip into his gun. "I'm gonna walk the raod, look for the girl." His head turned to Carol as the sobbing stopped. He nodded his head to her and made his way to the door.

I reached my hand out to stop him. My eyes met his and my voice was low. "I'll go with you." This time, instead of arguing with me, Daryl nodded his head. He could tell that there was no way I was going to be getting any sleep. He also knew that I didn't want to leave his side. Not anymore.

Daryl grabbed a flashlight and handed it to me. The two of us walked to the guard rail when we were stopped by Andrea. "I'm coming, too." She must be in the same condition I am. Not tired.

Daryl, again didn't argue. He just nodded to her signaling he didn't mind. He looked up to Dale on the roof. "We're going for a walk. Shine some light in the forest. If she's out there, give her something to look at."

We took two steps before Dale spoke up. "Do you think that's a good idea right now?"

Before Daryl or I could say anything, Andrea called Dale's name, stopping any other objection. She continued without even looking at the old man on the roof.


End file.
